THE WORD IN ADVENT - 2nd SUNDAY

A Call to Prepare in True Love

6th December, 2015
Bar 5: 1-9; Phil 1: 4-6,8-11; Lk 3: 1-6

'PREPARE' is the call that dominates this season! One of the posts I could not agree more with, these days on the facebook, was a prayer posted by Fr. Joe Andrew an inspiring salesian priest. He had begun it thus: 'Lord we prayed for rain and you gave it. Sorry that we were not prepared for  it!' The whole world's attention is drawn towards the calamity that has just descended upon Chennai (which should by now include within it Cuddalore and other parts affected too). There is a widespread feeling we were not prepared enough for it in spite of the warnings we have had. The second reading and the Gospel today invite us to prepare, while the first reading and the Gospel tell us how to prepare! We are preparing to celebrate the coming of the Lord, and we are preparing for the coming of the Lord too, that is the coming of the Reign of God!

The Call: Recently, after the bomb blasts in Paris, the discussion on violence in the world and the need to tackle them, had escalated to a great intensity. And all of a sudden, in our part of the world, the present calamity of the deluge befell. And we seem to have all forgotten about the earlier discussions - the violence, the terrorism, the anti terrorist attacks, the need to joint military action etc. Today what dominates is the compassion towards the suffering, reaching out to those battling the floods, garnering efforts towards rescuing people and joining hands towards feeding the hungry. Time has yet again proved that goodness has the sweetest sway over humanity. The calamity has taught us, we are one and we need to stand and feel as one! The call is in the air, not just up and above, but surrounding us, in every experience, in every tear, in every smile, in every outstretched hand, in every heart that bleeds with compassion!

To Prepare: To make ready already in advance for the sake of facing a situation, that is what it means to prepare. It is important, the Lord has instructed us time and again, to be prepared for the coming of the Lord in glory. The Coming is going to be glorious and demanding too... because we would have to render an account for everything that we were given with and the way we have responded to it. I remember when we were kids, we dreaded the visit of one of our aunts...she was a nun. When we knew she were coming, we would be pushing dust under the carpet, stuffing clothes into the closet, dumping books into our cupboards and make the rooms look presentable. Invariably every time she would pull out everything that was in disorder and give us a mouthful! Preparing is not a cosmetic alteration that stays just skin deep. It is a fundamental transformation and that is why only true love can afford it.

True Love: To love as Jesus loves...that is the task that St. Paul entrusts to himself and to us. The only preparation that is good enough for the coming of the Lord or the only preparation that can truly lead us towards the coming of the Reign of God, is that which is inspired by true love. It is giving and not getting, it is reaching out and not receiving, it  is leveling and not proving oneself, it is straightening and not manipulating, it is simplifying and not complicating, it is feeling for and with another and not feigning sorrow, it is making life better for the other and not making a life out of the other. True love is a forgetfulness... a forgetfulness of harm done or good left undone, a forgetfulness of the struggles one has gone through while coming to face with the present struggles of another, a forgetfulness that does not so much think of repaying as of responding to the present need of a person. 

Let us prepare...prepare ourselves in true love towards growing into God's people, towards being signs of God's Reign here on earth. 

THE WORD IN ADVENT- 1st SATURDAY

The Advent Task: Be Compassionate

5th December, 2015

Is 30:19-21,23-26; Mt 9:35 - 10:1, 5,6-8

The City of Chennai is going through a moment of real crisis while it is also witnessing some thing beautiful about itself. The crisis is about battling the rains and the havoc caused by its effects. The beauty is about the numerous cases of individuals who go out of their way to do something to make the situation better for those who are suffering... those who are ready to accommodate the homeless in the little space left in their homes, those who are ready to share the little that they have with those who do not have anything, those who are out there wading through the waters just to make the suffering populace feel that they are not left alone, those who are far out of this zone but staring at the TV screens with a genuine droplet of tear in their hearts for the sake of those who are battered by this calamity - that is the sign of the Reign!

We need to discover and build on that sincere feeling for and feeling with the other... Being Compassionate is an essential task on the way to building God's Reign here on earth.

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1st FRIDAY

The Advent Task: Open your eyes and see

4th December,  2015

Is 29: 17-24; Mt 9: 27-31

They had their house filled with 3 feet water... rendered homeless they stood with their two children on the road with knee high water flowing past them. I was wondering what sort of bitter experience they would harbour, after all  such scenes of misery and vulnerability. To my surprise they said,  God be praised for so many things far worse from which they have been spared!

He shall see what my hands have done in his midst, says the first reading today. It is a special capacity to be able to see the hand of God in our daily experience. We should be given the vision, healed from our blindness and the Lord alone can enable us in this regard. Lord that we may see!

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1st THURSDAY

The Advent Task: Trusting in the Rock

3rd December,  2014

Is 26: 6-10; Mt 7: 21, 24-27

The way things are done today and the things that practically work today seem to suggest that there are ways and means to get things done rather than trusting them into God's hands. We worry about things as if everything depended on us and as if they are totally within our capacity. We tend to think of God only at the end of it all,  when we feel nothing else had really worked!

Trust in the the Lord forever, the Lord is the everlasting Rock, says the first reading; while the Gospel challenges us to move from a fake and shallow relationship with God towards founding our lives on the rock! Founding our lives on the Rock,  trusting the Lord our Rock,  does not mean an empty jargon or a figure of speech. It is a concrete dependence on the Lord and the Lord's will on a daily basis, convinced to do just what the Lord wants and whatever the Lord wants!

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1st WEDNESDAY

The Advent Task: Hope in God

2nd December, 2015

Is 25: 6-10; Mt 15: 29-37

What a day to think of this message: from 5 in the morning I have been getting calls and following updates of floods in our part of the State. People are stranded, held up,  locked in, left without anything to eat... at these moments despair can get the better of us. The whole heated discussion of the rising level of intolerance in India and the debates and demonstrations for and against it is yet another despair inducing scenario. The increasing conditions of inhumanity and violence in the world and the lack of transparent and righteous coalitions against evil, is an alarming state of affairs! But I was pleasantly surprised to receive a message from someone explaining all private initiatives to help the flood affected...the message from a non-Christian but ended with a quote: 'if God is for us who can be against us'!

That is hope and Christian living and thinking is all about hope. Waiting for the Lord is all about hope. Hoping in the Lord is not a leap in the dark, it's seeing the light that comes through or being determined to pick up the first streak of light that pierces through. Hope makes us authentically Christians... fear strips us of it!

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1st TUESDAY

The Advent Task: Knowing God

First Tuesday in Advent: 1st December, 2015

IS 11: 1-10; Lk 10: 21-24

The task outlined today towards preparing for the Kingdom is knowing God. When we know God for real, our attitudes will be different. There will be no harm done to another in the presence of the Lord. Just because someone is different from me, I find a reason to hate that person or keep that person away from me - that is the tendency of the world today. It is a clear sign of people having moved far from the real knowledge of God. We have become too sophisticated to perceive the Lord, who is revealed precisely in simplicity. Let us grow to be children and we will get to know God!  

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The feet of those who bring Good News

30th November, 2015: Remembering St. Andrew
Rom 10: 9-18; Mt 4: 18-22

St. Andrew has played a special role during the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Andrew as a disciple of Christ always had the role of bringing good news to persons... he brought the good news of having found Christ to Peter (Jn 1:41); along with Philip, he brought the Greeks to meet Jesus (Jn 12:22); and he brought that boy who gave the five loaves to feed the five thousand (Jn 6:9). Amidst all the opposition and threat, the apostles bore witness to his name: they were the beautiful feet which brought the good news to the world. 

Today Andrew is proposed as the patron of social network...because he used every opportunity to make Christ known to people and to bring people to Christ. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI described social network as the modern day pulpit and invited us to proclaim Christ not merely from the housetops but also from the laptops...and here we have a great role model for it. May we dedicate today every effort of ours to proclaim the Kingdom through the social network. May we dedicate the social network which offers us such a great promise, that it may forever be an instrument in the hands of God, to bring God's will to fulfillment. 

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 1ST SUNDAY

STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF THE LORD

29th November, 2015
Jer 33:14-16; 1 Thess 3:12 - 4:2; Lk 21: 25-28, 34-36

A fresh new liturgical year at hand! Let us begin to celebrate it. The first day of this liturgical year reminder from the Word is: we are standing on the promises of the Lord. Advent is a season of waiting, waiting on the Lord for the fulfillment of promises. Just as the people of God waited for the centuries, we are called to wait for the Lord. The world however is growing increasingly impatient. 

I am reminded of a documentary I viewed sometime back... of an 8 year old boy in Armenia, who was at school when a treacherous earth quake occurred. To the absolute dismay of the father of this boy who rushed to the school premises immediately,the school was nothing but rubbles, piles and piles of stones in a heap. But the father chose a spot and started removing the stones bit by bit...in spite of all the discouragements offered and despair thrown at him, he went on constantly doing it for the next 38 hours! After 38 hours of rummaging, suddenly he heard this voice from the rubble: 'see,didnt I tell you my father will surely not abandon us' and he was stunned to see his son with 12 others trapped under the debris.

The challenge is to remain with HOPE...that we are standing on the promises of the Lord, the Lord our integrity.

1. PROMISES

Promises give meaning to life, they add an element that is not yet but already. A promise to a child will get that child do anything. A promise to a youngster will motivate that youngster into action. A promise to an employee will draw the utmost from the situation. A promise to the polity will gain parties votes. Promise is something that inspires action. We begin with a promise, a promise of a whole year of the Lord's accompaniment. The first reading invites us  to a hope that the Lord is serious about fulfilling the Lord's promises.

2. STANDING

Stand with confidence before the Son of Man, says the Gospel today. We are standing - that takes three dispositions: One, that we are alert. We do not allow people to deceive us, or we do not permit the situation around us to have the better of us. We remain awake and perceive everything that is going on, picking up every sign that the Lord gives towards action. The second disposition, that we are ready and on the move because our liberation is at hand reminds the Gospel again. It is time that we see not only the history but the Lord of history in action, that we perceive the hand of God in things that are happening around us. Thirdly, that we are firm, strong and standing erect! That we are not overcome by fear or trepidation. We are standing, sure of our steps because we have a promise from the Lord and we need not be shaken.

3. THE LORD

The Lord our Integrity...it is the Lord who gives us these promises and we are sure that they will be fulfilled because we are referring to the Lord our integrity: Yehova Tsidkenu, the Righteous one. We have a sure foundation because it is the Lord who promises, the Lord who is Integrity, the Lord who is Righteousness. The Lord is faithful forever.

We are standing on the promises of the Lord; we have nothing to fear however dark and dreary the situation may seem. The Lord our integrity is constantly watching over us and waiting to fulfill all God's promises! 

WORD 2day : 28th November, 2015

Stay awake; Stay strong

Saturday, ,last week in Ordinary Time
Dan 7: 5-27; Lk 21: 34-36

The last day is here...it gives the feeling of an end of a journey, but ofcourse it is not just the end! It is a new beginning too, with tomorrow. The beginning came and the end has  come.... if we do not stay awake we will not gather the fruits of what is going by. Staying awake is crucial.

What follows is again not all that flowery.  It is a waiting,  a waiting that is tedious,  a waiting that can be trying,  a waiting that is a bit painful. St Paul compared it to the pangs of child birth. Yes,  only those who stay strong will endure till the end. Staying strong is crucial too.

The liturgical year ends today with an all new phase of challenge to begin: stay awake;  stay strong!

WORD 2day: 27th November, 2015

Never to pass away!

Friday, last week in Ordinary Time
Dan 7: 2-14; Lk 21: 29-33

A pain reliever statement suggested by many in today's world is, 'this too will pass'. But the recurring theme of today is a reference to something that is here, never to pass away... the Lord's Word,  the Lord's Reign,  the Lord's sovereignty.

Things may appear to be going totally out of sway, or nothing may seem to be under anything that is spiritual. ..but never lose heart,  God is incharge; God is in control. However bad the readings of the times is, your saviour knows you and to his Reign there is no end. Be firm in faith...let your faith too never pass away.