MERCILENT 2016 - 14th March

BE ILLUMINED: the Light is with you!

Monday, 5th week in Lent

Dan 13:41-62; Jn 8: 12-20

We have a dramatic episode in the first reading today. Though the innocent Susanna being blamed is a lent-worthy theme, the point of reference today is Daniel. Daniel, who was illumined by the light of the Lord and filled with the Spirit, delivers Susanna from the treacherous plotters and the mindless mob. To instruct the ignorant and to illumine the confused are spiritual acts of mercy and that is the call that Daniel's episode offers us today.

We are called to fight against the treacherous plotters, deceivers who lead people astray, people with hidden agenda who manipulate the weak and the vulnerable. We fight them by throwing light on the truth and standing by it amidst threats and treason. Tougher still is the other task: that of illumining the ignorant and the mindless, who do not have clear thinking of their own, who swallow all that they are told, who follow the mob so blind that they do not even know what they live for. At times our faith choices too become such a following of the mob and that is a crucial element we have to be careful against. 

Jesus is the Light that illumines our minds, reveals the falsehoods and bears testimony to truth. Jesus sheds light on what we need to do, where we need to journey towards, and where we are at this moment!

The Mecilent Attitude for today: Surrender to the Lord and pray for his illumination, that you can understand God's ways and share it with others.

RELAUNCH TIME

MERCILENT 2016 - 5th Sunday of Lent - 13th March

Is 43: 16-21; Phil 3: 8-14; Jn 8: 1-11

Lent is no time for regret or remorse. Neither is it a call to resume our life after a short break. It is a time to Relaunch, relaunch from the forgiveness of the Lord!

The experience of being forgiven is a refreshing moment, it is not a moment that reminds us of all the wrong that we have done. If it does so, then it ties us to our past. We will be filled with regrets and remorse and guilt will reign supreme! That is what happened to Judas. He betrayed his friend and teacher - Jesus. Yes, it was wrong but it wasn't worse than Peter who denied even knowing the Master who loved him so much. But we see Peter come out of that treacherous situation unscathed, not Judas! The reason, with Judas there was regret, remorse and the resultant guilt. With Peter there was the will to relaunch! That is what the Lord challenges us to today, as he tells us: Go sin no more! 

At times our lenten experience can become an interim experience, as it happens in an institution during the moments of 'inspection' or 'verification'. It is like my experience. I have the habit of filling my table with books and notes that I work with. It may look like a mess over my table, but I go on with my work. At a point of time I would just take it upon me to start clearing the mess and start putting some order. When the table looks empty and orderly, one of the staff would remark with a smile: "let us see how long it lasts!" Rightly so, the books and notes would return in no time! Lent cannot be that short time of "putting order" and then to resume the 'ordinary life'. That would make it all an excessive effort for too little a cause.

Lent has to be a moment of Relaunch! It should be a time when I have to decide on elements to be TRASHED in my life. St. Paul speaks of that categorical choice for Christ: when everything else becomes rubbish. It is a moment to ascertain the only thing to be TREASURED - the renewing mercy of God brought to us by the redeeming love of Christ. And it is a challenge to TONE UP our life, forgetting the failures  of the past and Relaunching our journey with Christ. That is what Jesus tells the woman: behold I create something new for you, a new life, a new start. Come, start again and and be joyful, let us journey together in love and mercy of the Father!

I am reminded of the Strenna for 2016 given by our Rector Major: With Jesus, let us journey in an adventure of the Spirit. Let us relaunch, and rejoice!

MERCILENT 2016 - 12th March

BE PREPARED: they will hate you for no reason!

Saturday, 4th week in Lent

Jer 11: 18-20; Jn 7: 40-52

Speaking of the recent killings at the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen, quite a few reports end with the phrase: 'the reasons for the attack are unknown!' Why should a group of people who are with the old, the sickly and the destitute, be killed? Because they were being good? Because they were living their life for others? Or merely because they were doing it all in the name of Jesus?

Jeremiah was hated for living a righteous life. Jesus was hated for the good he was doing and the joy he was bringing to the poor and the oppressed, and moreover because he was from Galilee! The world does not need a reason to hate you. It will find a reason by all means, unless you compromise with it. The moment you stand for what you believe and live in conformity to only what you stand for, you got to be prepared! 

Mercy, would have it that even in the face this hatred you continue loving, that you continue doing good, that you do not retaliate nor seek to avenge them some how! The best example is the Cross that shines before us specially during this season, the greatest sign of the power of mercy! Forbearance towards those who do wrong against you, is definitely an act of mercy.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Be ready and prepared for opposition when you wish to be good; don't compromise!

MERCILENT 2016 - 11th March

BE ENDURING: let nothing disturb you!

Friday, 4th week in Lent

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

Enduring all odds is a necessary quality for a servant of God. If only a person wants to remain faithful to what the Lord has called him or her for, the person has to grow tough from within. One cannot allow something to affect him or her so easily, if the person wants to go all the way with one's vocation. 

Endurance means the capacity to dedicate oneself for a cause and to stand by that cause come what may. Here we are speaking of the Lord's chosen ones and their capacity for total dedication. There are two types of situations that can make one lose one's endurance: the opposition of the Godless and the indifference of the thoughtless.

The Godless interpret everything that you do in their own sense and malign your name and whatever you are upto. The first reading says, their malice makes them blind to anything that is godly. The thoughtless are the so called 'religiously diligent' people but who are lost in their own world, who wish that everyone fits into their framework of understanding. Jesus is struggling against these in the Gospel today. 

We may be faced with the Godless who oppose us, malign us, persecute us...are we going to give up being messengers of the Lord? We may be surrounded by the self righteous lot who find fault merely because we do not fit into their frameworks...are we going to lose heart? If we are broken because of these experiences, that is a fragrant offering we can give the Lord but we need to endure! The worst of everything is if we ourselves fall into one of the two categories - the godless or the thoughtless. Let us be careful.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Let nothing disturb us and let us never be weary of doing good (2 Thes 3:13)

MERCILENT 2016 - 10th March

BE TESTIMONIES: endure, hold on and see the wonders

Thursday, 4th week in Lent

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

The Gospel today is very dense passage where Jesus speaks if his testimonies to himself and to God who has sent him. In the extensive discourse what he wants to highlight is that we know, we understand, we come to believe but these do not stand firm for long. A bit of a trouble, or a small delay in favours, or an untoward incident that breaks our plans, or an unexpected turn of events that gets us into crisis, takes us away from God. We see people going away from God, denying God, or creating their own God when things do not go the way that they wanted. 

The call is to be testimonies to the Lord and to what the Lord wants to accomplish in and through us. The recent killings at Yemen is a great testimony, because of their endurance. A couple of decades back the same Yemen had a similar attack and these sisters were asked to  leave and they refused to do so, saying the dying and the destitutes there needed them and decided to hang on, the priests who spiritually cater to them. held on too. Today their death gives us pain but remains a great testimony! The Holy Father called them, 'the martyrs of our day'. 

How enduring are we in our commitment to the Lord? How prepared are we to hold on, in the face of struggles? How persevering are we to wait for the wonders that the Lord has in store for us!

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Believe in the Lord and check how much your thoughts and words bear testimony to the Lord!

MERCILENT DIGEST II

Here is an update of Mercilent Thoughts so far:
1. Be Merciful
2. Be Pro life
3. Be Integral
4. Be Shining
5. Be Godly
6. Be God's
7. Be Open
8. Be Prayer
9. Be Good
10. Be Christ
11. Be Rock
12. Be Exalted
13. Be Different
14. Be Wise
15. Be Careful
16. Be Joyful
17. Be Pliable
18. Be Grateful
19. Be Blessed
20. Be Judicious
21. Be Loving
22. Be Spiritual
23. Be Yielding
24. Be Life-giving
25. Be Diligent

MERCILENT 2016 - 9th March

BE DILIGENT: the Word judges

Wednesday, 4th week in Lent

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

Mercy is not devoid of justice, it is a perfection of justice! Hence Mercy cannot become an escapism on my part. Can I deceive the Lord who knows me through and through? Can I escape from the Word which cuts through right till it divides the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow.

God's mercy is there for the taking! Yes, it is freely given without any conditions, but I should be in a position to make it my own, and that responsibility is upon me. The Word today points to us how the Lord is so enthusiastic about saving us and intervening into our life for our wholeness at the right and appointed time. It also adds, that we will be judged on the degree of our diligence in this regard.

How readily do we turn to God in times of tests? How early do we spot ourselves straying away from the path? How mindful are we about what we are called to do, in order to prevent unnecessary developments in life? As a way to keep ourselves from going astray Don Bosco used to say, do what you are supposed to be doing with a sense of diligence and that will take you a long way towards sanctity. 

Knowing what I am expected to do, understanding the purpose behind the calling and being diligent in carrying out God's will for me at every single moment...that is the way we live as people of the Word.

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Whatever you do, find God's will in it and be diligent in carrying it out

MERCILENT 2016 - 7th March

BE YIELDING: Don't be stubborn with Grace

Monday, 4th week in Lent

Is 65: 17-21; Jn 4: 43-54

At times we speak of Grace as some'thing' to be received from God: terms like more graces, special graces, immediate graces, etc betray such an understanding. The most Christian understanding of Grace would be the continual proximity of God. The Lord promises us to be with us and the Lord is always faithful to this promise. The challenge is that we realise this presence and feel it concretely. When we do that, everything turns new - the earth, the heaven, the life, the experience, the persons around, the problems that persist...everything is renewed! But the need is that we YIELD!

The Gospel today brings out this message very subtly. The Court Official's petition for a favour was a bit irritating for Jesus - Jesus expresses that but the official finds favour when he yields to the terms of Jesus: 'You Go and your son will live'...the man turns and walks! He wanted grace, the proximity of Jesus, but he willingly yields to experience it in the Lord's own terms. If I remain stubborn as to what I want to experience and that I must experience it in my own terms, then I restrict the great wonders that can happen around me. 

Yielding requires three major qualities of Faith: Confidence, Surrender and Humility. It is to say wholeheartedly : 'God is in-charge!"

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Take your life to the Lord, every situation that needs the Lord's presence and surrender it to the Lord- that's the best type of Prayer.

RENEWAL TIMES

MERCILENT 2016 - 4th Sunday in Lent - 6th March

Josh 5: 9-12; 2 Cor 5: 17-21; Lk 15: 1-3, 11-32

I remember it was during our Novitiate year, we were suggested to follow a spirituality of identifying ourselves with one of the plants or trees that stood in our campus and observe its growth and reflect on our own growth in relation to it. Looking out of the window from our study hall, there was a  tree which was almost dead, its bark dry and dark. But I had chosen that tree, because I was drawn by the small little shoot that jetted out right on top, tender and green! I was so happy to see how life can come out of such tough situations! The very next day I saw someone had cut the tree and the tree lay down flat on the ground! I was so grieved and feared what sign the Lord is giving! When I spoke to my Spiritual Director, he said not to lose hope and to look out for another plant or tree. But I had made up my mind never again to try this exercise on myself anymore. After a fortnight or more one fine morning as I sat in the study hall and just casually looked out, my eyes widened as I saw the dry bark of the tree on the ground, but a new leaf that had just sprung up from that so-called dead bark! Oh what a message of Hope that was: the Renewal Times!

Behold I make everything new, the Lord promises! The Lord is continually making things new. Our task is to Trust in the Lord! To trust in the Lord even amidst great tragic news as that of the killings that we heard of in Yemen yesterday!

The First reading speaks of the trust that the wandering people of Israel had and how that Trust did not fail. They eat the produce of the land they were promised! The Manna stopped that was not sad...because there was something better given to them.

The Manna stopped yes, but they were to Taste a different bread, the bread of the Mercy of the Lord. They tasted and they gave praises to the Lord: Taste and See that the Lord is good.That was something new and far more greater than what they had tasted till then.

The Tasting of the Lord is a tough call, because it requires that we Tread the path of the Lord, that we think like God does - the call to be Merciful like the Father! Only when we show mercy, can we taste mercy!

The elder son in the parable narrated in the Word today,is no different from the younger son. The younger son was physically away, but the elder son was spiritually so far away from the Father: he had been calculating, expecting, comparing, grumbling and grudging all work! How sad, that he was so near the Father yet so far. If only we wish to taste the goodness of the Lord, we need to Trust in the Lord and Tread in the Lord's path.

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #10

Some Special Proposals for the Year

 # HOLY DOOR OF MERCY

I am the door and only through me can one go to the Father, promised the Lord. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart,  I will enter his courts with praise! 

The Holy Father invites us to enter the holy door of mercy, through which we can experience the love of God who consoles,  pardons, and instils hope. 

It is not a magical act that we enter the door and the mercies of the Lord get sprayed all over us! The Holy Father bases himself on a solid theological background as he announces this traditional invitation in these post modern times. There is a threefold condition that enables one to receive the mercy of the Lord efficaciously. 

First condition is Faith, that is a filial trust in the Father and a fraternal relationship with the Son, united in the Spirit. 

The second condition is Preparation, preparing oneself through the sacrament of Reconciliation and a well received communion. 

The third condition is the union with the intention of the Universal faith community,  the Church.

With these three conditions when a faithful makes a conscious spiritual exercise of entering the specially consecrated door, the person receives an indulgence, that is the grace of salvific forgiveness for oneself and for the souls in the purgatory.

It is indeed an uplifting experience to engage in such a pilgrimage to enter this door and find the solace that God has in store for us.