TO BE KEY PERSONS UNTO THE REIGN

The Role, Wisdom and Personal Knowledge of God

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - 27th August, 2017
Is 22: 19-23; Rom 11: 33-36; Mt 16: 13-20

Look around the world today - what do you observe in all fields? There are nations threatening each other to prove who is superior to whom. There are corporates clashing with each other to claim the topmost slot in the economic world. There are factions and groups in the name of religion and ethnicity and race, making of humanity a worthless value to uphold. There are those in the garb of god-men fending their own nests and exploiting every one else for it. There are politicians who pose to be liberators of the masses while they are hand in glove with every agency that goes diametrically opposed to the common mass. What is all these manipulation about? What are they trying to prove to themselves and to the world? With this as background let us approach the Word today.

One image that dominates today's liturgy of the word is the image of the Key...every person, every entity, every nation, every society, every corporate wants to be a key entity in its field. That is what we saw in the entire list of examples we just enumerated. But, in truth, becoming conscious of one's mission and situating it within God's plan is the real secret behind being key persons in the eyes of the Lord. Every prophet, we see in the Old Testament, is enamoured by the love of the Lord and surrenders totally to the Spirit shining as a key person within the believing community. I have observed in persons within some of our Christian communities that I have served, a similar urge to be key persons! Our tasks of being part of the Parish Pastoral Council, the cooperators to the animating nucleus of the Parish at the zonal or the division levels, are some key roles that people aspire for today. The call is be key persons, yes; but not unto our own glory but unto the Reign that the Lord wants us to build here on earth. 

To be a key person is to realise your GOD GIVEN ROLE: 

Being key persons unto the kingdom would mean, we understand our key role from the perspective of God. At times politics enters the religious ambit and shatters every bit of truth that can exist. Lack of focus and confusion of meanings are the outcomes of such an influx and personal integrity is left at stake. The Lord reminds us in the first reading that it is the Lord who robes one with or strips one of authority.

To be a key person is to be GUIDED BY WISDOM:

Wisdom is not merely knowing; it is knowing that one knows and knowing what is to be known at a particular point of time. It is, more than capacity, a grace! A key person unto the Kingdom should be equipped with wisdom much more than anything. To make the right decisions at the right time and to make the right changes at the right time towards an authentic growth towards being true people of the Reign, the key persons, if not all, should be guided by wisdom.

To be a key person is to have PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD:

The Gospel today gives us the ultimate criterion to be key persons unto the kingdom: it is to know God, on a personal basis. To have encountered God, experienced God, tasted God, felt the concrete presence of God is one of the fundamental criteria to play any key role in a community of faith, a community of people of God. Mere borrowed experiences and brainwashed theories cannot make one an authentic key player within the community of the Reign. 

Each of us can turn to be a key person unto the Kingdom, if we realise the God given role that we have, be guided by Wisdom and yearn for a personal knowledge of God in our lives. The more key persons there are, the more the Reign can be established on earth.

UNDERSTANDING GOODNESS

WORD 2day: 26th August, 2017

Saturday, 20th week in Ordinary Time

Ruth 2: 1-3,8-11, 4:13-17; Mt 23: 1-12

Goodness is Godliness. Last week had been marked by various acts of terrorism in places like Spain, Ireland and so on. And today I am looking at news coming in from India, the riot that is claiming lives and properties, riots against the verdict convicting a rapist, just because he claims to be a god-man. The Word reflected from this background raised a fundamental question within me - how do we understand goodness?

Is goodness the external appearance of a person sporting conventionally respected images - as a god-man, or a social worker, or a poor-lover, or a cause-believer...these externals do not suffice. And not all are deceived by it, ofcourse some are!

Is goodness all about the deeds and functions? People who wish to create a public image that they are good, try to buy up people by their good deeds and heroism. But is that enough sign of true goodness? Hidden behind the good deeds and acts of people there are agendas and schemes that no one even guesses. 

Goodness is all about the basic nature in a person, that is not even seen by the others. Then of what use is it, one could ask. It is nothing to prove to anyone, it is just being good at the core of one's being. That will never change, even if the situation around and the persons around change, for the worse or for the better.

Keeping these in mind, can I really judge who is good and who is not? No one can. I can only say whether I am good or not. But it is so important to ask myself: Am I really Good?

LOVE AND BELONG TO GOD!

WORD 2day: 25th August, 2017

Friday, 20th week in Ordinary Time
Ruth 1:1,3-6,14-16,22; Mt 22: 34-40

Approaching today's readings with the question, 'how does one become a son or a daughter of God' - today, there is an example and a theory! The example is that of Ruth and the theory is presented to us by Jesus himself in the Gospel. 

Ruth, a moabite, who lost her hebrew husband but still becomes a part of God's salvation plan and becomes one of the few women referred to in the long history of the Israelites. How does it happen? The answer is, true and selfless LOVE. Love is the only way one can become a child of God, as John puts it so simply in his letter - 'Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God' (1 Jn 4:7). John learnt it from his master and beloved friend, Jesus who dared to synthesise the whole of the law and the prophets (that is, the whole of Hebrew Scripture) into two directives, which actually amounted to just one command: LOVE. 

Let us love one another and be God's children.

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Will you be found under the fig tree?

Celebrating St. Bartholomew the Apostle - 24th August, 2017

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

One of the 12 foundation stones, that is, the 12 apostles rooted firm in Christ, is St. Bartholomew whom we celebrate today! Jesus gives him two compliments - one, that he was a person who had no guile in him and second, that Jesus saw him under the fig tree!

Sitting under the fig tree, had a very special significance in that context and Bartholomew is interested and curious how Jesus got to know about him and his tryst with truth.  Sitting under the fig tree would mean (as we see in Micah 4:4), meditating on the Word of God, on the things that God expects from one, and on the way one relates to his or her world. Jesus has noted it. That was surprising for Bartholomew. Jesus is ready to surprise us, are we ready to be surprised? 

Will Jesus find us under the fig tree? How much importance do you attach on a daily basis to remaining in sacred silence... or to the reading of the Word of God... or to meditation on the Word... or simply to remain in that disposition to connect to the Lord... that is why the question, when Jesus wishes to, will you be found under the fig tree?

THE LORD WHO APPROACHES

WORD 2day: 23rd August, 2017

Wednesday, 20th week in Ordinary Time

Judg 9: 6-15; Mt 20: 1-16

We can find something that is common in the two readings of today, and that is the clue to the message that is offered. The first reading narrates a parable of trees approaching various trees to rule over them. Jesus narrates a parable in the Gospel, about the land owner who approaches people at various moments of the day for work. The key is here: the Lord who approaches.

In various ways the Lord approaches us - what a marvel and what a privilege that we are approached by the Almighty. It is not that the Lord cannot do without me, but the Lord chooses not to do without me. The Lord invites me to be on the Lord's side. The Lord approaches me to be at Lord's business. Three dispositions that I should necessarily have to respond to the Lord who approaches me: Listening, to the Lord's call and heeding to the Lord's directions; Obedience, to carry out the wishes of the Lord despite the difficulties and delusions; and Selflessness, to do whatever I can for the purpose of the Reign and for the people of God, but never expecting anything as a recompense, never comparing the good times of the others with mine and doing everything for the other, for the society and for the God who wills them all. 

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

QUEENSHIP AND BEING KINGDOM-WORTHY

Celebrating the Queenship of Mary - 22nd August, 2017

Judg 6: 11-24; Mt 19: 23-30

Today's Word and the Feast are full of contrasts - the rich and the poor; the haves and the have-nots, the strong and the weak, the first and the last... it all boils down to one binary according to Christ: those who are worthy of the kingdom and those that are not! We have some beautiful icons presented today. Gideon the weakling chosen amidst the strong ones; the young man who possessed abundance of wealth but failed to inherit the Kingdom, Mary the simple and ordinary girl who is crowned the Queen of heaven and earth, a feast we celebrate exactly a week after the Assumption. 

Mary's queenship is absolutely logical. Christ is the King and we have no doubt about it. If Christ were the king, the crown prince of the World, his mother Mary is logically the Queen - that is why Pius XII instituted this feast in 1954 to let us understand that we have a great mediatrix in this simple woman of Nazareth. She is mediatrix in more than a few ways: one, by her intercession; secondly by her example; and thirdly by her challenging witness that tells us that it is possible to live as people of the Reign, children of the Kingdom, worth subjects of our one and only King, Christ our Lord. 

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Leaders Arise in God's eyes

Remembering Pope St. Pius X - 21st August, 2017

Judg 2: 11-19; Mt 19:16-22

An interesting part of the book of Judges we have today to reflect on - it gives us a pattern of Israel's relationship with the Lord, how short of memory and how terribly ungrateful they were. But the Lord does not react as humans do. Though God's people go away from him, the Lord draws them close and raises new leaders to guide them on. At the right time, the right type of leaders arise because they arise in the eyes of the Lord. It is not leadership that is vied for, plotted towards and grabbed with influences, but intended and willed by God!

That is where we celebrate Pope St. Pius X today - a papacy at the onset of 20th century (1903-1914) which made great strides by way of pastoral care of the people of God, just as the Judges were appointed for. Pope Pius X is known for three great impacts he had on the Church, among scores of others. First, he is known as the Pope of the Catechism, because he was the one who first insisted on the need of catechesis in the parishes in the vernacular language (note, it is almost 60 years before the Vatican Council II. Secondly, he is called the Pope of the Communion because, it was he who paved way for the possibility of daily communion (from the year 1904), before that it was not allowed that a faithful receives communion daily, even if he or she participates in the Eucharistic Celebration. Thirdly, it was Pope Pius X who reduced the age of first holy communion from 12 to 7 (from the year 1910), thus making the Christian community conscious of giving its children the possibility of a concrete relationship with the Saviour at the earliest. 

The Word invites us to a radical commitment to the Lord and the saint of the day challenges us to a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord. Let us heed that message: let us grow in our radical commitment to the Lord and our personal relationship with the Lord.

Am I a Pagan by the way?

Signs of the Godly: Integrity, Justice and Faith

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 20th August, 2017
Is 56: 1-6,7 ; Rom 11: 13-15, 29-32; Mt 15: 21-28

A couple of days ago, I was sharing a few personal minutes with a person from an Asian country, staying here with us - a priest. Sharing about his own life he said he was ordained a priest just 2 years back. And I asked him, 'were you ordained here?' meaning to say in Italy. To my horror, he darted direct at me, 'here? among these pagans? never! ordination is too sacred to have it here!' I was really disturbed when he said this. He could have said it simply, that he had it back home. But that kind of a statement... still working on this shock, here we have today a strong reflection on that  very word, Pagan!

Pagan is a word that St. Paul uses so strongly and Jesus refers to in the Gospel. What does that word mean? Going into the etymology, it derives from the latin word, paganus which means one who lives in a village or a rustic person. Later it came to mean a 'civilian' that is one who is not conscripted into the Roman Army. When the Christian society began to use this they began to refer figuratively to those who are not enlisted into the Army of Christ. However, taking the semitic background, that is from the Jewish, Christian and Islamic history, it means those who are Godless. The essential difference is those who believe in One God and those who do not! In a final analysis if at all we want to use this word today, we could use it for those who are Godless as against those who are Godly. 

As in that horrendous example that I gave, there are Christians who consider others pagans; there are Muslims who call us Christians 'Infidels'; there are these pentecostals who look at the Catholics practically as if they were 'pagans'...now the question that we are left with is... Who is a Pagan? Infact the first reading and the Gospel clarify that term with such precision. They delineate three qualities of a Godly person, thus telling us who is really not a pagan.

Integrity: That is the first sign of a Godly person. Integrity is being true to yourself, being true to the absolute truth, being true notwithstanding in which situation you find yourself. This is the rapport that you have with yourself. If it is healthy, true, sincere, noble and critical - you will measure up to be a Godly person. If not you will find yourself far from it, though you may be claiming so before the world.

Justice: The second sign of a Godly person is Justice. Justice is giving the other what is his or her due, without grudging it. Greed and avarice, violence and corruption, exploitation and manipulation are directly against justice. Those who are the causes of it and those who are silent witnesses to it are equally perpetrators of the same. They can never be enlisted as Godly! This is all about your rapport with the others. If it is true, sincere, just and mutually upbuilding, then you are Godly, if not you are far from that category.

Faith: The third sign that the Word today gives us for the Godly is Faith. Faith is the unassailable trust we have in God arising from a strong personal relationship with God. It is the fruit of a recognition of God's goodness and God's unfailing presence with us. Unless I have a personal and intimate relationship with God, I cannot truly claim myself to be Godly. Hence this is about the rapport you have with God, true, loving, personal, humble and reasonable. If that is absent your religious practices remain mere rituals and superstitions.

So finally, dear Christian brothers and sisters, a pagan is not a non christian. Dear so-called believers, a pagan is not a non believer. So who is a pagan? 

Taking the signs offered in the readings today seriously, if I ask myself these questions today: Am I really integral? Am I truly Just? Do I have a strong personal faith? ...I would be very close to understanding myself and my spirituality. If I miserably fail in these measures, won't I have a question within me: Am I a pagan, by the way?

CHOOSE TO BE LITTLE

WORD 2day: 19th August, 2017

Saturday, 19th week in Ordinary Time

Josh 24: 13-15; Mt 19:13-15

To choose God, to choose God as the absolute, to choose God above all - these would mean today choosing to be little! Choosing to be little is choosing to be laughed at, choosing to be jeered at, choosing to be labelled 'conservative' or 'irrelevant'. I feel this much more in a context in which I find myself - the European West. This culture which was once upon a time so dominated by the God-talk, is today turning, if it has not already totally turned, Godless. It is not our task to be sitting in judgement on the people around, but to take into account our personal daily life, our personal choices and priorities, and the elements of our daily life that truly matter to us. There we will have a clue - do we want to be accepted by the world and found relevant to the times or do we want to choose to be little, to be that little flock that surrounds the Lord, like children who feel secure in the embrace of a mother? What would our choice be?

WORD 2day: 18th August, 2017

Enjoying the Fruits that we never planted

Friday, 19th week in Ordinary Time

Jos 24: 1-13; Mt 19: 3-12

Have you heard a brother of Islam speak in public, or even in a familiar gathering? Invariably every one of them will begin with terms like, 'Insha Allah' or 'Masha Allah'... They actually mean 'if God wills' and 'God has willed' respectively. As much as I admire them for this courageous reference to God in relationship to their daily life, I wonder at our own Christian brothers and sisters. How much of this sense of God would they possess and propose to the world? It does so much good to realise everything in my life comes from the Lord - in the name of the Lord, for the will of God.

Dedicating oneself for God, for God's will, for God's task is a matter of choice, not merely on our part, but on the part of the One who is at the root of everything. Every good that we are blessed to carry out is a gift from God - according to God's will and towards fulfilling God's will. At times we make choices that serve our own ego and our own personal plans. But what matters is to realise that we are eating the fruits of plants planted once upon a time and be one such - planters of the tree of blessing. The call is to realise that we are being blessed constantly by the Lord and to understand clearly what our own blessings lead us to. Challenging moments, let us get ready to brave them. Pleasant moments, let us be mindful of the fact that we are enjoying the fruits of the plan we never planted!