WORD 2day: 26th April, 2017

Idiots for the Lord

Wednesday, 2nd week after Easter

Acts 5:17-26; Jn 3:16-21

We are fools for Christ's sake, says Paul (1 Cor 4;10). Until we see the sort of things that happen in the first reading today, we do not understand the meaning of that statement of Paul.  Peter and John are arrested, tortured but they refuse to be intimidated. They are found in no time in the synagogue proclaiming exactly him whom they were forbidden to speak of.

I was reminded of the meaning of the word,  "idiot"... comes close to what  Paul  wishes.   Idiot is that person who is so occupied with just one thing that everything else goes into oblivion. The Apostles and the disciples were all idiots... idiots for  Christ's sake.

There are other sets of idiots who are pitiable. They are idiots, who turn so due to their choices... it could be power,  position, possession or any other reason. They are pitiable because they miss the best that they can ever have: the Risen Lord.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

A 'Go' that binds

25th April, 2017
Celebrating Mark the Evangelist

1 Pet 5:5-14; Mk 16:15-20

Mark comes out as a dedicated young man convinced of his call and enduring in his response. The apostles and disciples were extremely different from each other in their calibre and character. But what bound them together was the 'Go' that they received from the Lord. It was the commission from the Master that kept them  going. We see generations of them following each other in responding whole heartedly to the project entrusted. Mark becomes the representative of the generation that immediately followed the 12 and Mark leaves indelible trails by his commitment and dedication. The call is to the young today: can you dedicate yourself to the commission from the Lord... to Go!

WORD 2day: 24th April, 2017

The Spirit Rocks

Monday, 2nd week after Easter
Acts 4: 23-31; Jn 3:1-8

The Spirit rocks and the Early Christian Community experienced it in concrete. The Spirit rocks, rocks in two ways: one, it rocks the complacency of an individual's or community's heart; second, it rocks the entire thing around that every one experiences something that he or she has been dreaming about. 

There have been people in history who were rocked by the Spirit in their heart...right from Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the prophets, right upto John the Baptist and Nicodemus today, they were rocked in the spirit and they began searching for the eternal truth. 

When the Spirit raised people, it rocked the entire world and history. Things were changed as they were never before. Today the Spirit awaits to rock the world through you and me. Being instruments in the hands of the Lord is to rock the world in the Lord's name - the Spirit will do it if only we are ready to yield! Are we ready to rock... let us let the Spirit within us rock!

MERCY: The Mark of a Christian

23rd April, 2017: Divine Mercy Sunday

Acts 2:42-47; 1 Pet 1:3-9; Jn 20: 19-31

This Sunday is liturgically called the Low Sunday which marks the end of the Easter Octave. "A week later" or "eight days later", indicates the Gospel today; it was a week later that Jesus appears to all the eleven, including Thomas and patiently, mercifully and lovingly leads them to true faith. The feast of Divine Mercy was instituted and fixed for this day by the  Pope Saint John Paul II, who was very much attached to this devotion, inspired by the Polish nun St. Faustina and her visions.  A very strong message of today is MERCY!

The first reading speaks of how the early community of Christians becomes a mighty witness to the Lord. They were the epitome of the command that Jesus gave, 'be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful'. Mercy becomes their way of life, or rather their renewed way of life. As a mark of being a Christian, mercifulness to each other specially to those in need, becomes the point of attraction for many...and as the reading goes - the Lord added to their number everyday! Mercy, we know, is the high point of Christian identity. But what matters most is how it is lived on a daily basis. It begins with our life at home: with our dear ones, elderly parents, sickly loved ones, troublesome children, rebellious youngsters... how is our relationship? What level of patience and acceptance do we manifest?

The Second reading speaks to us of the source of mercy, God the father of Jesus Christ who in mercy sent the only Son for our salvation! The Mercy of God is given to us as the example and the measure of our "genuineness of faith"! Preaching and believing in high ideals of love and compassion, if we but hate people and divide families, envy others and detest their well being... we are far far away from God, the God of Mercy and compassion.

Jesus' encounter with the disciples after his resurrection manifests a special quality of mercy... it is an encounter that is full of unlimited forgiveness and unconditional love! There is no demand that the disciples have to render an account for having abandoned Jesus at the crucial moment of suffering, for having betrayed him or having denied him! All that Jesus does is, tell them he is with them and invite them to be his witnesses throughout the world. That is the mercy of God embodied, incarnate, which dwelt among us in flesh and blood and dwells among us today in the Spirit. Mercy, hence, has to be lived today in forgiveness and love; there can be no place for grudge and grievance, envy and slander, cheating and stealing, killing and enmity. 

As we celebrate the Divine Mercy of Jesus...let us understand and accept Mercy as our mark of identity as God's own children, the distinctive character of persons who call themselves Christians! Let us be merciful as our heavenly father is merciful.

WORD 2day: Easter Saturday 2017

The Culture of Easter is Courage 

22nd April: Acts 4:13-21; Mk 16: 9-15

The culture of Easter is courage -it was born of the courage that Jesus showed in obeying God the Father without reserve and Jesus passes on the same courage to his disciples too. One of the clear proofs of Easter is the Courage that we see in the disciples, who were till then frightened and lost, timid and trembling but suddenly became so vociferous and invincible, outspoken and uncontrollable. What made that difference? The Empty Tomb is only an indication to what could have happened but the Courage of the disciples is the concrete proof of something extraordinary which had taken place. 

I am fond of making this contrast arising from the scene where Peter (along with John) speaks up to the rulers and elders vis-a-vis the scene on that maundy thursday night at the courtyard where he fumbled and fell so low in front of a mere servant maid! He who said in fear, I dont know the Jesus you are talking about, says today, I cannot stop proclaiming Jesus just because you command me to. Where did this extraordinary courage come from - that was in response to the command of the Risen Lord: go out to the whole world and proclaim good news to all creation. A new culture had been born, a culture of total fidelity and unlimited courage. 

The invitation for us today, is to feel this courage redoubling amidst crisis situations and tempting moments. Can we feel the unfailing presence of the Risen Lord with us, that we may live upto this culture of courage!

WORD 2day: Easter Friday 2017

The Sound of Easter is Positive 

21st April: Acts 4:1-12; Jn 21:1-14

The very sound of Easter is positivity. There are voices that discourage, there are noises that confuse, there are stories that mislead. As Easter people we are called to remain positive, productive and affirmative. We are challenged to be life giving. That is what Peter and John do: they announce Christ, because they were convinced that it is in that name that humanity has life. There is no other name given here on earth, through which a person could be saved. The only name that can give life is Jesus! And so they proclaimed that name, filling the earth with life, energy, wholeness and meaning. There were those who could not bear it or hear it or understand it. 

Even the disciples did not hear that initially - they heard voices that disturbed them, they were frightened; they heard noises that confused them, they were discouraged; they heard stories that misled them, they were returning to their old lives. But Jesus intercepted them, giving them back their meaning, direction and purpose - they heard his voice, they heard the call, they heard the sound of easter - the positive call to go on! Amidst discouraging experiences and disturbing factors in life, we are called to go on without giving up, because the very sound of Easter is positive!

WORD 2day: Easter Thursday 2017

The Fragrance of Easter is Hope

20th April: Acts 3: 11-26; Lk 24: 35-48

The part that remains even after the thing is removed from vicinity is the fragrance! And the fragrance that is left behind by Easter is that of Hope! The people throng all around Peter and John, because they have seen something terrific. The were excited at the prospects of seeing more things as such. They were enjoying and cherishing that moment. Just imagine the excitement that would have been when the disciples  witnessed Jesus stand amidst them, that Jesus whom they thought was killed. Jesus, makes them understand that these events have always been there, foretold and awaited. Now that they are fulfilled, you get the fragrance of it, and it is hope!

Our life has to be filled with this fragrance, if not we have not yet experience true easter. Out minds, our households, our relationships, our workplaces and wherever we are, we need to sense the fragrance of hope - which says, the Lord will triumph, love will triumph, the will of God alone will triumph! Do you smell hope wherever you are? Do people smell hope, where you are?

WORD 2day: Easter Wednesday 2017

The Touch of Easter is Mercy

19th April: Acts 3: 1-10; Lk 24: 13-35

The touch of Easter is Mercy; a boundless, limitless,  endless mercy. A very curious fact that we can ask ourselves: the apostles betrayed Jesus, denied Jesus and abandoned Jesus when he needed them the most. But when Jesus rose from death and came to meet his apostles, did he ever ask them the question - why did you do this to me? Never. In the Gospel today, with the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, Jesus joins them and shares their concerns, enquiring and clarifying their doubts and anxieties. The apostles were filled with grief when Jesus was killed. When they came to know that Jesus rose, indeed they were happy but more than that, they felt guilty. They were wondering how they would face Jesus. Jesus on his part, with a merciful heart treats them with love and forgiveness. 

The apostles did not miss learning that lesson - they were schooled at the school of mercy of the Son of God. Peter and John demonstrate that at the Beautiful Gate in the first reading today. Gold or silver we have none, in the name of Jesus, get up and walk, says Peter and the crippled man received his healing. 

If we are to be Easter people, we need to be people with forgiveness and love, sensitivity and care, in short people of boundless mercy. The touch of easter is truly, mercy!

WORD 2day: Easter Tuesday 2017

The Shape of Easter is Heart

18th April: Acts 2:36-41; Jn 20:11-18

If someone asks me to represent Easter with a shape, I would draw a heart! Yes, Easter is a matter of the heart. Youngsters often ask me this curious doubt: why did Jesus choose to appear to Magdalene first. I would say, he had no other choice, because she was the first one to go in search of Jesus, the most passionate of all Jesus' disciples, one who loved Jesus with the whole of her heart. Her heart was filled with Jesus and she yearned for Jesus and Jesus appeared to her! What a privilege! It was granted because of the heart, because of her love. 

Jesus was seen by only those who loved Jesus! Magdalene, then the close disciples, then the eleven...it was a matter of the heart. Precisely that is the reason people were cut to the heart when Peter spoke to them of Jesus. They were cut to the heart and so they understood Jesus and his call - they were baptised. 

Today, if we wish to meet Jesus, the Risen Jesus, then we need to prepare our heart. We need to be cut to the heart, to encounter Jesus truly. When we close our heart, we would never get to see the Risen One. Yes, the shape of Easter is heart. Open it wide and the Lord will abide!

WORD 2day - Easter Monday 2017

The Colour of Easter is Green

17th April: Acts 2:14,22-33; Mt 28:8-15

Green is the colour of life! New life - that is what Easter stands for. We are Easter people; people of life, people of new life, people of eternal life. There is always a group of people in the world who are against life and anything that upholds life. The Gospel today also speaks of a people who are determined to stifle life by all means or any means, whereas there is the Holy Spirit in the first reading instilling new life into the apostles. 

Jesus' rising to life is a call to new life, a life that is lived in its fullness, in spite of the culture of death that is prevalent all around us. Violence and Conspiracy, Neglect and Indifference, Hatred and Enmity... these are spread in abundance by persons and groups. However good we may be, there is always a force against us to put us down or hate us or threaten us or discourage us. Would we give up being good? Would we give up being life-giving persons? We would not if we are a Easter People.

Let us colour our lives green! Let us be life giving people, whatever the circumstances be! Jesus lives, and we will live, let us love, live and let everyone live! Let us go green!