WORD 2day: 30th August, 2016

Getting in touch with the indwelling Spirit

Tuesday, 22nd week in  Ordinary Time

1 Cor 2: 10-16; Lk 4: 31-37

The Spirit is the innermost being of our selves. We are formed in the image and likeness of God and the Spirit of the Lord dwells within us. The more we realise that and the more we are convinced of that, the more we would see our selves capable of bringing transformation to ourselves, to others around and to the context around. The so-called great people who make a difference in their own way, are fundamentally those who have come into grips with this innermost core of their beings - the Spirit. We see Paul speaking of it in the first reading and we see Jesus manifesting it in himself in the Gospel passage. 

The invitation is now for us to realise the core of our beings: the indwelling Spirit - getting in touch with the Spirit and getting into the grip of the Spirit, that great things may happen in and through us. We need not look to perform or prove ourselves. Things will happen and people we see it, when we are in the grip of the Spirit. Let us get into the depth of ourselves and get in touch with the indwelling Spirit. 

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Martyrdom - A matter of fact!

Remembering the beheading of John

Jer 1: 17-19; Mk 6: 17-29

Recently discussing about martyrdom with a group of youngsters,  one asked me, 'why should they go upto martyrdom?' In the same tone I replied, 'they don't go up to it,  it comes after them!'

Martyrdom is not a given-up mode of life.  It is a fruit of living one's life to the full till the end,  never losing the core purpose of that life for even a moment.

Martyrdom is not an option to choose.  It is a consequence of the choices made,  absolute choices for truth and righteousness.

Martyrdom is not an unprecedented event.  One sees it coming all the time.  It is always there in front of the person threatening him or her. But for the person who is concerned with things that truly matter, martyrdom remains just a matter of fact!

BLESSED ARE THE HUMBLE

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: 28th August, 2016

Ecc 3:19-21,30-31; Heb 12: 18-19, 22-24; Lk 14: 1,7-14

Humility is one lesson we learn so hard. Blessed are those who are humble by nature. The best of our qualities and talents amount to nothing when we lack one single virtue: Humility! The Word today invites us not only to be humble, but also to be with the humble and to be all for those who are humble, that we may be people of the Reign of God. 

The Guru of the ashram was old and dying and he announced to his band of disciples: 'I wish to appoint the humblest of you all as the next Guru.' The bickering began among the disciples, each one trying to prove he is more humble than the other. There was one among them who stood still and away from all debating. The Guru thought to himself, 'that should be the right one to succeed me, perhaps!' and he called him over to himself and asked him: 'what about you? you are not interested in the contest?' The disciple replied, 'Oh you don't know, how much ever they fight among themselves, they will never find anyone more humble than me!' The Guru was heart broken and he dismantled the whole ashram before he died! I don't remember who it was who said - the moment you think you are humble, you cease to be so! How true it is!

Be Humble - that is the first message today. Being Humble is not putting up an appearance. It is not doing something to prove to others that I am humble. It is going about my duty with such sincerity and integrity that I may not be even noticed for the good that I do - but that does not disturb me at all.  At times there are people who make a big show of the so-called good that they do, even of their own simplicity! Do you remember the posters of our politicians posing with a broom in their hands claiming to be simple and committed to cleanliness of the nation. Or similar ones where they pose with some poor people in their huts and gullies. They would have spent a fortune on those hoardings and advertisements! Let us remember - we have nothing to prove to anyone, not even to our own selves. All that I need to do is, be truthful, be real, be authentic. Humility is acceptance of truth. 

Be with the Humble - identify people who are truly humble. Jesus had the special eye for the humble ones. Be it Mathew, or Zacchaeus, or Nathaniel, or the Centurion, or the Pharisee who asked him about the commandment of love... Jesus recognised the humble and sided with them. In another episode like today's, when Jesus was at dinner at Simon the Pharisee's, he was able to see through the sinfulness of the woman and identify her humble repentance. She was gifted with his empathy. Jesus sided always with the humble, not with the haughty. If we are truly people of God, besides being humble ourselves, we would look out for the humble and stand by them.

Be all for the Humble - being the voice of the voiceless, the stronghold for the weak. When we stand by the humble we stand with the Lord, because the Lord always stands by the humble. This is the third message that the Word offers us today. Be for the humble of heart, stand by them, empathise with them, support them and spread the spirit so that the Reign of God may be felt amidst us, here and now. Today, we see reports of so many humble persons being taken for granted, exploited and drained of even the little that they have. We have truthful and integral individuals taken to task, punished and crushed by the demonic culture of corruption and greed. What is our response as people of the Reign?

The Word today invites us to understand that the humble are blessed in the sight of the Lord. Those who are humble, those who be with the humble and those who are all for the humble, find favour in the light of the Reign of God - they are truly the people of the Reign.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The Power of Tears 

Lessons from St. Monica - 27th August, 2016

1 Cor 1: 26-31; Lk 7: 11-17

This saintly Mother has always been a point of great admiration for me personally. What a great example she is, as a mother and as a child of God! There are three lessons that this saintly mother can teach us:

1. The grace of tears: Pope Francis encourages people to pray for the 'grace of tears' when pleading to God to help others, when recognising their own sinfulness, when contemplating the greatness of Christ's love and when experiencing God's mercy. Monica had the grace of tears and she prayed with tears every time she prayed for her husband and her son.

2. The power of tears: When the widow of Nain cried, the Lord could not resist his compassion for her. He was moved to the point of a miracle. Just so, Monica saved her son, by the sheer power of her tears.

3. The witness of tears: Tears become a witness, witness to the love of God. The genuine tears of a loved one speaks volumes about the immeasurable love that God has for a person. Tears are not signs of weakness, they are signs of inner strength to remain with a person who is suffering or struggling!

Let us pray for the gift of tears, as Pope Francis recommends!

WORD 2day: 26th August, 2016

Wisdom and Foolishness

Friday,  21st week in Ordinary Time 

1 Cor 1: 17-25; Mt 25: 1-13

The world today has its own definition of wisdom and foolishness, success and failure... everything, to put it simply, calculated in terms of benefits and gains in comparison to the effort and investment. Convenience and comfort seem unfailing criteria of choice. But can these be Christian parameters?

The Christian paradigm, as Paul says is the Cross and the hope that it projects. However hard we may try, no other paradigm can make sense of this.  The sacrifices we make and the selfless goodwill we have towards others are true Christian parameters of righteousness. Being good and doing good without expecting anything in return or without looking for its credits,  is the cross we are called to embrace if we wish to belong to the Bridegroom!

WORD 2day: 25th August, 2016

Waiting...but how?

Thursday, 21st week in Ordinary Time

1 Cor 1:1-9; Mt 24: 42-51

The Word today brings out the all important spiritual practice of Waiting. Waiting is a daily-life experience for most of us, if not all of us. When we look at it from a larger perspective of Spirituality and life changing experiences, it can be of three modes depending on the disposition with which a person waits.

Utopian Waiting, is a kind of excited waiting. It is more or less like a child who is waiting with excitement for a Christmas gift from the Santa. There is so much of dreaming and planning about the gift. The gift is opened and admired and experienced, all in imagination or at the mental plane, even before it reaches the hands of the beholder. Here there is so much of noise made about it though no one is absolutely sure what it is all about. About waiting for the Lord too, there are people who do this, aren't they?

Slumberous Waiting, is a kind of inactive waiting, just waiting to kill the time till it all happens. There is nothing much done about it, or practically nothing, because the person waiting does not expect anything spectacular at the end of it all. There is a kind of indifference and cynicism, even a bit of pessimism! There is nothing new under the sun and what is going to be has always been, they believe. They feel they have nothing much to accomplish and there is so much of compromise and lethargy here, that when it really happens they are hardly prepared!

Spiritual Waiting, is a  kind of wholesome waiting, which lives the present moment with a holistic mindset that contains within this particular moment the gratitude for the past and the hope for the future! It is a kind of spiritual disposition that is sincere and genuine about the present life, with all its responsibilities and trials, joys and difficulties, without belittling what has gone before and what awaits. It is fundamentally living one's life to the full, joyfully waiting for the plan of eternity to unfold in all its grandeur.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

A man incapable of deceit - Celebrating St. Bartholomew

24th August, 2016

Rev 21: 9-14; Jn 1: 45-51

The twelve - Jesus' choice of the twelve was very conscious and reasonable. Be it any of the twelve, even regarding Judas Iscariot, Jesus had a special reason for their choice. He gives the reason for the choice of Bartholomew (said to be Nathaniel whom Philip introduced to Jesus): a man without guile or a man incapable of deceit. That is one splendid attribute of a disciple. 

We are called to be disciples of Christ too...can we merit such an appreciation from Jesus as he had for his apostles? The Red that we use to indicate the specific role the apostles play within our faith, is also a reminder to die with Christ so that we may rise with Him.

Let Bartholomew inspire us to live a life that makes us worthy be called persons without guile, people incapable of deceit. 

WORD 2day: 23rd August, 2016

Keep Calm and Live on!

Tuesday, 21st week in Ordinary Time

2 Thes 2: 1-3,14-17; 23: 23-26

It looks like the crazy ones were there right from the beginning! At times we want our spiritual life to be exciting, on the move, ticking away in fret, like a suspense thriller. There is an imminent sign and there is a mighty revolution in the making...such claims are galore these days on the street corner banners and well funded TV channels! St. Paul warns us against such tendencies. He says, KEEP CALM and go about your daily duties!

Jesus sounds more vehement with the same message in today's Gospel: don't be hypocrites, don't make a show of your piety, don't make a living out of the fears of people and don't try your imaginations in God's name. Just keep calm and live on. 

Live your daily life to the full, love each other sincerely, reach out to one another with genuine care and relate with truth in your heart. Allow God to take control of the entire reality and don't claim franchise for decisions and activities that belong to God alone! Keep Calm and Live on... shall we?

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

Celebrating the Queenship of Mary

22nd August, 2016

2 Thes 1: 1-15, 11-12; Mt 23: 13-22

I was strangely reminded of this recent experience of mine on a journey! One knows quite well that a photo identity card is essential on journeys these days and for the past three years I had carried a colour photocopy of my driving license as a identity proof. On a journey last month it suddenly became an issue, when a Ticket Inspector took exception to the fact that it was a photocopy! By rule, it has to be an original document... not that I did not know that rule! I understood I was at fault but the Inspector was kind enough to merely warn me and let me go without the stipulated fine. What I am trying to share here is not what happened till here, but what has happened after that event. Nowadays I carry the original document with me, and every time I travel and the Ticket inspector comes my direction,  I hold my head high and feel so confident about the fact that I have every thing right on my part - that's feeling like a king!

Jesus is referring to a life confused with varying standards, footless principles and self-centered schemes! When a person lives that way, he or she has to be all the time on the guard against people who would find fault, accuse or atleast murmur against them. But when some one has everything right in his or her life, there is an inner freedom that is akin to living life like a king or a queen! 

Queenship of Mary from this angle seems a natural outcome of her way of life - the absolute freedom she enjoyed, the total personal commitment she manifested and the bother-about-nothing-else attitude she had when it came to obeying God's will... that is what made her the Queen of Heaven and Earth, inspiring us to live our Christian Life like her - Kingsize or Queensize!

ENTER THE NARROW DOOR

21st August 2016 - 21st Sunday in the Ordinary Time

Isa 66: 18-21; Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13; Lk 13: 22-30

The experience of standing in a queue, the tedium of entering the metal detector at places with extra vigilance or waiting for the token number at the bank… these are no rarities in our ordinary life. Jesus draws a simple example, one similar to these, our experiences.

The door to the Reign of God is narrow, not many take that door, though everyone is invited to enter the Reign. There are many other doors, which seem more comfortable, more spacious and more adorned and people prefer them, knowing least that they do not lead to the Reign of God, the greatest treasure in store for us!

Entering the narrow door is a task quite demanding – the readings today point to three traits that are needed to be able to enter the Reign through the narrow door. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel, many try to enter but they cannot.

To able to enter the door, one should be strong! Strive – says the Lord – Strive to enter – To strive means to struggle, to make all the efforts possible, to try real hard. One needs to be strong in mind, heart and soul to strive to enter the narrow door into the Reign. It is Spiritual strength we are dealing with here. Be Strong, but avoid Spiritual Obesity, warns the Lord. If you are obese, you cannot enter the narrow door – it’s obvious! Spiritual Obesity – Pride and Elitist mentality – which gives into self righteousness and judgmental attitude can never get us into the Reign of God. I am baptized, I am a born-again, I am a consecrated religious, I am a Sacred minister – nothing can get you in! From the east and the west, the north and the south everyone will enter and sit at the table in the Reign says the Lord. Mind you, there are no reservations here in. A bit of disciplining, as the second reading suggests, can get us in shape.

To be able to enter the door, one should be in communion! The way is long, we reflected on that last week. Communion with each other and Communion with those who have managed to enter the door before us, can really make the task easy and enjoyable. Our forerunners are our example, our model and can even be our helpers – but finally, the one who has to enter is me! It is you! That is why we are warned today – Be in Communion but avoid Spiritual Infantilism. At times we make our faith so infantile that we think everything depends on the candles we light, the formulae we repeat, the food we give up and the coins we drop. These are means to strengthen our relationship with God – but they are not everything. What matters most is our personal life of commitment and integrity. You cannot enter the narrow door in groups… one by one you have to do it. That means you cannot ride on the goodness of the other, either the living or those gone before you!

To be able to enter the door, one should be patient! The wait is long, for the door is narrow! Waiting on the Lord is a spiritual talent. To wait patiently, amidst failures and pressures, amidst temptations and struggles, amidst dark nights and heavy burdens, it is the only way one can be prepared and prompt when one’s time comes! There is a warning here too: Be Patient but avoid Spiritual Lethargy. In the name of patience I cannot procrastinate my commitment and postpone my conversion to a later moment. ‘Repent and Believe, for the Reign of God is near’ says the Lord. Being patient is not being busy with something else till my turn comes… but persevering, enduring and constantly working on myself that when my turn comes, I am in shape, prepared enough and fit to enter the narrow door that leads me to the behold the eternal glory of the Lord Almighty!

I am the door, if anyone enters through me, he or she will be saved (Jn 10:9) declared the Lord elsewhere! Jesus is the door, the narrow door, the demanding door – He is compassionate, yes; but at the same time uncompromising. The choice is ours to choose the narrow door, make ourselves strong, united and patient, to endure our everyday life and make straight the path for our feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed (heb 12:13). The door is narrow but there is enough space to enter, if we are in ready and willing.

All, but not all…

One by one is the call…

Let us enter the Narrow Door, one and all.