Harvest is Cutting!

Saturday,  16th week in Ordinary time 

July 28, 2018: Jer 7:1-11; Mt 13: 24-30

Yesterday we spoke of bearing fruits and today we speak of harvest. Harvest is not merely fruit bearing; it's also cutting. It is a sign that enough time has been given to an individual to make up one's mind. Compromises and conveniences abound in today's life style and it does not disturb a casual conscience.

There is the other extreme of a conscience which pictures the Lord of the harvest as a tyrant, a heartless landlord and a stringent due collector. It makes life look like a misery,  every bit of it so precarious, as if I am pressurised, as if I am driven to frustration with all the strife of the world. That is not truly a Christian vision of life.

Christian way of life is all about taking responsibility for every choice that one makes, mindful of the experiences that have shaped one, graces that have gratuitously enriched the person, undeserved love that has been invested in the person and the great hopes that are pinned with respect on to the person. 

When we look at it this way, the Lord comes across as a loving and merciful father and a kind and compassionate mother who gives life and leads us every moment by our hand and empowers us to bear fruit. 

However, it is  our choice to bear fruit or not. We have to make that choice in time, before we  realise, the harvest would be around. And harvest is cutting; that we cannot forget or change!

Grow up and Bear Fruit...

Friday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 27, 2018: Jer 3: 14-17; Mt 13: 18-23

The discourse of Sunday is still running through - that of the Shepherd. The Lord is our Shepherd and has given us all that we need to live our life to the full, yet we falter at times and the reason is because we are "disloyal children" of God, as Jeremiah reminds us today. The Shepherd is faithful and diligent, but on our part we are childish and distracted. The good news is that the Lord never gets discouraged! The Shepherd never abandons. 

Let's pause here to look at another important dimension of the discourse - that is what the readings in liaison with each other wish to call our attention to. The Shepherd is faithful and the Shepherd is perfect but what about us? It can be too convenient for us to imagine ourselves as sheep, and take advantage of the helplessness that characterises a sheep. But the readings today introduce another imagery: the crops and the need to bear fruit. 

The Lord has given us all that we need to live, to be nourished and to bear fruit, in our own way and capacity! The Lord has not given all of us the same goal and does not wait at the finish ready to rank us in succession. No. We are each given a goal that is unique, a call that is personal and a commission that is specific. All that we need to do is give our hundred percent. In comparison that hundred could be 30 or 60 or 100, but that does not matter as long as I have given my hundred percent and borne the fruit that I got to. 

Grow up and Bear Fruit, the Lord invites. It is fine to take shelter under the Lord as a timid little sheep but that is not all that you are! Grow up and bear fruit and you shall be called truly Children of God. 

Grandparents' Day!

26th July, 2018: Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary

The first setting in which faith enlightens humanity is the family, declares the encyclical Lumen Fidei (52). It further explains that passing of faith in the family happens in the process of shared expression of faith within the family, helping children to become aware of their faith and grow and mature in it. 

Christian faith is always communitarian and it is passed on primarily in the family. Recently someone observed to me, sharing on the level of faith being lived (or practiced) in Europe vis-a-vis in India, that one major reason for the degeneration in Europe is the weakening of the institution of the family. Those who hand on faith to us are really God-given. Most important among them, our parents and grandparents who not only give us life but show us also how to live it, from their own experience. 

Celebrating a day to remember the parents of Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, provides us an opportunity to remember with thanks these our fore-runners in faith, as the first reading suggests, 'let us praise famous persons, our parents in their generations. These were persons of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten' (Sir  44:1,10). Infact, thanks to them, we are in a position better than them due to their hard work, great example and their dreams for us! Jesus acknowledges that in his words (Mt 13:16-17) and exhorts us to live up to our blessedness, our giftedness, worthy of the faith and tradition that is transmitted to us, from our predecessors. 

The transmission that the grandparents effect is a practical and concrete transmission of lived faith. It deals with right practice and right living. Faith in its very essence has an all-embracing quality of transforming the entire life of a person and the community to which the person belongs. Let us treasure our traditions, transform our todays and thus pave way for meaningful tomorrows. Let us pray for our Grandparents specially today and honour them in some little way. 

A grateful remembrance of our grandparents if they are no more, or a bear hug to them if they are still with us, will be in place today! 

Jesus' School of Servant Leadership

July 25, 2018: Remembering St. James

2 Cor 4: 7-15; Mt 20: 20-28

Feast of any Apostle reminds us of the wonderful words that St. Paul utters today: "we hold this treasure in earthen vessels". Every apostle has his own weakness, nevertheless the gift that they are and that they possess, surpasses everything as God's power and might is revealed in it.

Feast of St. James (with the Gospel that we are given to reflect today) reminds us of this more strongly and adds another specific teaching, a teaching from Jesus' School of Servant Leadership. In Matthew's and Mark's versions of the Gospel, we find every time that Jesus foretells about his passion, he follows it up with the discourse on servant leadership (as we see in Mt 16:24ff; 18:1ff; 20:20ff). James and John took time to realise that the only thing we can inherit from Jesus is his identity as Suffering Servant!

Eventually they wanted to bear the crown that Jesus mentioned and that is what they did. James led the community of Jerusalem... humble and service minded as the Master himself; and his blood shed like the Master's (Acts 12:2). Let us praise the Lord for the apostle St. James and be prepared to witness to the Lord till our last breath!

Mercy and Faithfulness

Tuesday,  16th week in Ordinary Time 

Mic 7: 14-15,18-20; Mt 12: 46-50a

The message that enlightened us on Sunday, continues through the week too...calling our attention to the faithfulness of the Shepherd who has committed himself to our good, without measure or without limits. The most concrete expression of God's faithfulness is God's mercy which is so boundless and plentiful. 

We are called to be merciful too: be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful, instructed us Jesus once. Our concrete way of living out mercy is being faithful to the biddings of the Lord. Being faithful to the biddings of the Lord would consist of being attentive to everything around me, being truly concerned about everyone around me and being open to the promptings of the Spirit within me.

Mercy is not about doing some charitable acts here and there and now and then. But it is becoming like God, growing in our godliness and being signs of God's faithfulness to those who are in need of it. Being God's presence to those around us, especially those who need it the most, who need it badly, who depend on it for their sustenance. 

The starting point of growing merciful, that is growing up to be like God, is to listen to the Lord and do what the Lord wants of us. That is the only way we can grow to be children of God and become truly brothers and sisters of the Son of God, our brother Jesus Christ. 

Want to see signs? Here is a project of life

Monday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 23, 2018: Mic 6: 1-4, 6-8; Mt 12: 38-42

"To do the right and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God" - Micah presents a project of life in these precise words (Mic 6:8). It is a project that he gives to the people to walk in the Lord's ways and not to weary the Lord with their unfaithfulness and stubbornness. 

How different are we from the people whom Micah addresses today in the first reading? Aren't we just like the pharisees and the others who were incessantly asking for signs from the Lord? Crying statues, bleeding icons, moving crosses... do not they continue to be a craze these days! Should they be? 

Of course, for us miracles are a daily feature, because our God is an awesome God. But looking for some strange phenomenon and glamorous happenings, is not the "Christ"ian outlook of a miracle. For Christ the miracle is in the hope that we can give each other; miracle is in the love that we share with every one around us; miracle is the everyday faith in the Lord and the resultant serenity amidst all the din. 

Let's resolve to do the right, love goodness and walk humbly with the Lord and we will see miracles all around us, on a daily basis!

THE 4G SHEPHERD

A Shepherd for our times

July 22,2018: 16th Sunday in Ordinary time

Jer 23: 1-6; Eph 2: 13-18; Mk 6: 30-34

Take a look at the scenario today - at the so-called shepherds, the leaders all around us! There are some who are special but they do not stand out as much as the other usual ones, the usual ones who are treacherous, fending for their own good, thinking about nothing other than themselves, ready to sacrifice anything or anyone to attain the goals that they have set for themselves which would serve them and them alone, twisting and twirling their words, having their own definitions for virtues, doing all they can to have and to retain power unto themselves, oblivious of the struggles of the least, using others as stepping stones and ready to trample upon anyone for the sake of their ascent! These are the shepherds of our times. The sad fact is, this does not happen only in the socio-political milieu today but even in the spiritual world!

It is against this background that the readings of today make a great sense to us! They present to us a Shepherd par excellence, a Shepherd for our times - the times that speak of 4G - yes, a 4G Shepherd. We would do well to look at the way the Lord leads us in contrast to the life of the so-called leaders of today. The aim is not to judge these leaders, but to learn from the Lord and to form ourselves to be the Shepherd's true flock, true followers and true apostles!

While the power conscious of today seek to divide people, stratify them and polarise them to gain their own benefits, the True Shepherd GATHERS all. The first reading and the second underline this grace that the Lord brings us - the grace of unity and peace! Yes, this is the sign of the True Shepherd. Gathering the remnant, gathering the different people, gathering all into one is the task that Jesus took upon himself - to gather everyone, to reconcile everything in God! We are called to be persons who gather, not divide, not polarise, not scatter.

While the self-centred generation of today thinks about oneself and one's own possessions, growing evermore avaricious and insensitive to others, the True Shepherd GIVES himself to us. Paul's central message has always been that: that Christ gave himself up that we may be brought to the state of being children of God. Endless greed and craze for pleasure blind the generations of today and we cannot belong to the flock of the True Shepherd if we follow the trend. We need to stand up for truth, stand out in our choices and some times even stand alone, and be ready to give of ourselves to stand for the good and for God.

While the grief struck mentality of the world is all the time striving and chasing after the comforts and in the meanwhile accumulating grief and depression, the True Shepherd GLADDENS the spirits of those who come to him. Come to me, rest in me, learn from me, be nourished of me, grow in me and become like me, calls the Lord today. The Shepherd knows the struggle that we are involved in, the problems and pains that we are facing on a daily basis - that is why he tells us today: Come apart and rest a while!

While the craving to dominate others becomes the force that moves persons to action today, the True Shepherd, who has the entire universe under his command, GOVERNS us with love, a love that is sensitive, a love that is delicate, a love that is selfless, a love that is ever-giving, a love that reaches out, a love that works marvels for our good and not for its own glory...a love that is God. That is the principle that governs the entire reality, the principle that is the foundation of everything that is good or godly: the principle of LOVE, which has to characterise the life of every one in this flock. The call is to receive this love from its source, the Lord, the True Shepherd and grow in it, and learn to give it to all, little by little! 

Choice! the choice of God!

Saturday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 21, 2018: Mic 2: 1-5; Mt 12: 14-21

Jesus was living dangerously. But he chose to, for the sake of the Reign of God. He stuck his neck out for the poor, for the oppressed, the marginalised, the ostracised, the exploited, the forgotten in the society. He believed that the Reign of God belonged to them. His life was a hope to the least, the last and the lost. Crucifiction was not just one event of his life, it was all his life: at every choice he made and at every step he took, he knew he was getting closer and closer to the Cross!

In this choice Jesus was making present the God of the Old Testament who sided the oppressed, who stood by the just in their struggles and who kept watch over the persons who strove to live according to God's will. The first reading points out the choice of God, the choice for the poor and the suffering. This predilection on God's part distinguished Jesus and the choices he made. His choice was, the choice of God. There apparent and real dangers, and Jesus knew it well.

Nothing could stop him from proclaiming the Reign of God for he knew he had come precisely for that, to establish the Reign of the God of Truth, the God of the suffering, the Lord of the least, the protector of the lost, the hope of the last. Our identity has to be our Choices, may they be forever in keeping with the choices of God!

Something greater around!

Friday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 20, 2018: Is 38: 1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Mt 12: 1-8

God deigns to do strange things for the love of those who trust in God! The first reading is one such episode. There are so many others, like the burning bush (Exo 3), the water from the rock (Exo 17), the sign of the fleece (Judg 6:36ff), and many more. These are merely to show that there is nothing or no one greater than the Lord and anything is possible with God!

When it comes to showing mercy to those who trusted, the Lord is lavish, prodigal and unreasonably generous, because God's love is unconditional and everlasting. That was a difficult message for Jesus to communicate to the law abiding, traditional and painfully legalistic Jews. Even today the Lord tries to impress upon us the same message, the message of how loving the Lord is, how unconditional God's love is and how far from judging the love of God is. 

No rule can be too big and no custom too important, than the love that the Lord has for you and me and the longing that Lord has for our total well being. When we feel the tendency to be legalistic, when we find ourselves prone to judge, when tasks at hand draw our utmost attention, let us realise: something greater is around us, something greater envelopes us, something greater sustains us - and it is, God's love, the love which became a human person and gave his life for our salvation. 

Come to me, all who are far away from me!

Thursday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 19, 2018: Is 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19; Mt 11: 28-30

The yearning of a Godless soul, the struggle of a people who have gone far away from God is intensely presented in the first reading today. The world today is treading that path indeed... trying its best to define life sans God; trying to convince everyone around that it is possible to live without having anything to do with anything called god! Worse still, the trend today advocates creating our own gods and creating gods of ourselves! 

We think we have solutions for every problem and even for those that we do not have the solutions, we create shortcuts that can keep the pain and the struggle away for the time being. Hardly do we realise that the problem persists and it keeps brewing under cover, only to explode one day beyond control. And at that point we would find no return!

The Lord invites us today to the true consolation, the real solution, the authentic peace that can give meaning to our daily life and all its strife. He does not promise an absence of yoke, nor does he lure us with a negation of burden...he promises a yoke that fits us perfectly and a burden that proves really bearable: because we live it in the Lord's company. 

'Come to me' says the Lord, because all the struggle is since you have moved away from me. Come to me...and learn of me...and you will find meaning, peace, consolation and serenity!