THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Remembering the Immaculate Heart of Mary

4th June, 2016: Is 61: 9-11; Lk 2: 41-51

Following the Sacred Heart, we remember the Immaculate Heart - so fitting and meaningful a tradition! The Heart of Mary manifests a total dedication to God and the grand role God has 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. No matter how much it was pierced and hurt and tortured, Mary's immaculate 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.

THE HEART AFFIRE

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

3rd June, 2016

Ezek 34: 11-16; Rom 5: 5-11; Luke 15: 3-7

One of the striking elements of the image of the Sacred Heart is the flame that accompanies it. That is the only thing that this naive generation has left out, from the Sacred Heart, when they adapted its symbol to indicate the love between two people! The heart with an arrow piercing it...you have seen it for sure, haven't you!

But this flame is a special symbol of the Heart of Jesus and it has three significant messages and challenges to give us:

1. Sacrificing: the flame establishes that the sacred heart is a sacrificing heart, not an expecting heart! The flame burns and it consumes the heart...the love that Jesus has for us consumes Jesus...the sacrifice on the Cross, the giving of Jesus' body and blood  -they are all clearly evidences of this quality of the heart of Jesus. How sacrificing is our love?

2. Seeking: the flame is also characteristically something that seeks to reach out. Look at a fire as it burns will it remain in just one spot and be satisfied? No. It seeks. Jesus seeks, seeks to reach out to us, seeks to warm our hearts, seeks to enlighten our paths, seeks to ease our troubles, seeks to meet our needs as a Shepherd seeks the troubled sheep.

3. Shining: the flame is radiant. It shines forth, it shines to invite us to follow the model. The shining flame is an open challenge - can you be like me, can you love like me, can you care for the others like me, can you be sacrificing like me, can you seek to serve others, can you be affire as I am, passionate about filling this world with true love and make it a better place, a heaven on earth, the Reign of God here and now!

WORD 2day: 2nd June, 2016

Faithful to the Faithfulness 

Thursday, 9th week in Ordinary Time

2 Tim 2: 8-15;  Mk 2: 28b-34

Even if we are unfaithful the Lord is faithful, because he cannot deny himself! God is faithfulness personified. Our faithfulness to the Lord is a response that we give to the faithfulness of the Lord. We love because, God loved us first. We are faithful because the Lord is faithful to us! Infact, our faithfulness is our readiness and our commitment to be faithful to the faithfulness of the Lord! 

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Spirit of power, love and self control

Remembering St. Justin Martyr: 1st June 2016

2 Tim 1:1-3,6-12; Mk 12:18-27

We are given the Spirit of power and love and self control, not a spirit of timidity! A spirit of negativity reigns in the world today, a spirit of vendetta and a spirit of exploitation is seen prevalent everywhere. The Word invites us today to take a look at the Spirit with which we are filled as true sons and daughters of God. Are we going to be lost in the spirit of  negativity and squander our lives finding fault with others all the time? Are we going to be pessimistic about everything that is happening around and start lamenting our times? Or are we going to stick our heads out, gird our shoulders and get ourselves ready to live our life to the full without wasting our time in criticism and judgments on others!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

God in the midst of us

Feast of Visitation : 31st May, 2016

Zeph 3: 14-18a; Lk 1: 39-56

We celebrate the feast of the Visitation of our Blessed Mother to Elizabeth. When Mary entered Elizabeth's household, there was a sense of God that was felt, for two reasons. The first, Mary was carrying Jesus within her and the effect was felt! The second, Mary herself was transformed into the presence of God for Elizabeth! 

The first reading today turns our attention to the words of Zephaniah explaining what the Lord in our midst is doing: God exults, God renews and God dances! God exults in the wonderful gifts that we are to Godself. God renews those parts of us that are not as good as they can be! God dances with joy over everything that we are able to do in God's eternal plan. Anyone who expresses this exultation of the Lord, this call for renewal and the rejoicing of the Lord in God's children, is a reminder of the presence of God.

Infact when Elizabeth says, 'what have I done to deserve that the Mother of my Lord should visit me!', she becomes the reminder of the presence of God to Mary! When Mary turns to Elizabeth and says, 'My heart exults in the Lord and my soul rejoices in the Lord my saviour', she becomes the reminder of the Lord's presence to Elizabeth and to the entire household!

We are called to be reminders of the presence of God, to be the presences of God to those around us. When we exult in the Lord, when we do our part to renew those around us, correcting them with care and love, when we rejoice in the goodness of others and the good things that happen to them, we become God's presence amidst God's people!

Can we be today, God's presences wherever we are!

Life-giving Life

Solemnity of Corpus Christi - 29th May, 2016

Gen 14:18-20; 1 Cor 11: 23-26; Lk 9: 11-17

We celebrate today the Life-giving Life, the Life that came down to give us life, by giving one's own life! Corpus Christi reminds us of the great miracle of Orvieto. Jesus is the life giving Lord, the Lord who gives up one's own life 

Bread and Wine are  ancient symbols that were already present in the Jewish tradition and Lord Jesus uses that symbol in a manner totally amazing. Bread and wine stood for two important messages. One, it was the regular food of those days. Secondly, it represents the two major realities of life: bread that stands for the everyday experience and wine that reminds us of the special moments we shared.

Body and Blood, the two essentials of a being- that is what Jesus became for us. Jesus is the life, the life-giver and the fullness of Life. 

The life giving Lord chooses to give life in this world and prepare us for the eternal life. The Eucharist is a concrete manner in which the Lord is open to the multitude of persons and specially persons who have never experienced the things that we just spoke about. 

WORD 2day: 28th May, 2016

The True Foundations

Saturday,  8th week in Ordinary Time
Jude 1: 17, 20-25; Mk 11: 27-33

Jude presents to us the right foundations for true Christian living. The Holy Spirit, grace and faith sustain a person's resolve to live as an individual pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

They are true foundations also because they help one to stand firm in front of opposition and criticism. Even if powers and dominions pressurise one to give up,  the true foundations help one to stand his or her ground and stick to one's convictions.

Absence of such foundation will make one lose heart and compromise at the face of slightest resistance or difficulties.

What are my foundations?

WORD 2day: 26th May, 2016

Seeing and Being Seen

Thursday, 8th week in Ordinary time

1 Pet 2: 2-5,9-12; Mk 10: 28-31

One cannot live a Christian in isolation...that is the crux of the message today! Because being a Christian involves a lot of seeing and being seen. I need to see myself and understand who I really am. I need to see things around and hear the helpless cries of people readily. I need to see who I am surrounded with and why I am wherever I am. I need to see what really matters in a given situation - maintaining the decorum or causing a disorder towards greater sense of life and love?

It involves being seen a lot too! Being seen as different, as honourable, as trust worthy, as reliable, as outgoing, as sensitive, as dedicated, as capable of true compassion, as persons with a definitive but a different set of priorities, as people who make a difference for the rest of the world around them.

Let us learn to see, and be prepared and worthy of being seen, as the One who called us does! 

WORD 2day: 25th May, 2016

Check your Seed!

Wednesday, 8th week in Ordinary Time

1 Peter 1: 18-25; Mk 10: 32-45

A tree is known from its fruits, the Word reminds us! The Word today speaks of a similar reality. It presents to us two crops of people: one an old crop and the other a new crop, a newly born community of persons, born anew in the blood of Christ. The seed of the latter crop is the very blood of Christ!  The Question is: which crop do you belong?

Jesus presents to us both the contrasting mentalities, the popular mentality of dominance and control and the Jesus mentality of service and collaboration. One will not fit in the other for they two are contrasting mentalities and the Lord wants us to make a choice and make it known! 

Jesus is preparing his disciples today in the Gospel, to be a crop of the latter kind. Of course, he finds it tough but he does not mind it and he will never compromise on it. The same he expects from us - we better check our seed!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Mary, Mother and Miracles

Feast of Mary Help of Christians
Rev 12: 1-3, 7-12,7; Gal 4: 4-7; Jn 2: 1-11

The episode of Cana is an event par excellence of a mother so sensitive and concerned. She intercedes with her Son and instructs the people as to how to relate to Him. That is exactly the role she plays even today. Let us learn from our Mother the art of living close to the Son! 

Happy Feast of Mary Help of Christians.