THE REIGN HERE AND NOW

Behold, Block not; Be Agents of the Reign!

9th September, 2018: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Is 35: 4-7; Jas 2: 1-5; Mk 7: 31-37

The deaf hear and the dumb speak... that was not merely a statement of compliment to Jesus,  but it was an expression of a hopeful longing! A longing of generations that the Reign of God would be established wiping every tear off the eyes of humanity. When Jesus did these wonders among people,  they found in those wonders and signs the very symptoms of the imminent Reign of God,  as foretold by the prophets of old. They hoped it would come around atleast then. ...and Jesus did promise them that. I have come that I may proclaim the year of the Lord,  initiating the Reign on earth (cf. Lk 4: 18), declared Jesus. Anyway,  Jesus was not deceiving them or letting them down; he told them clearly,  the Reign of God is among you (Lk 17:21). If they wanted to make it present or make it a reality, they could have done it. They were not ready for it.  The challenge is the very same today... if we want it we can make it a reality today, here and now! But we are not ready;  we do not want to! 'Oh no... how we wish it became a reality today', we might say. But the Word challenges us today: Do you really want the Reign present here and now? Then...

1. Behold the Reign

If I truly wish that Reign is established here and now, I have to firstly believe that the Reign is amidst us. Through persons of good will, through initiatives of selfless promotion of well being of the downtrodden, through the numerous who are ready to lay their lives down for a cause that might not concern their good at all,  through the ascendancy that God has over the earth,  the humanity and history,  the Reign is in reality present right in our midst and all that I need to do is realise it. There are so many signs of it;  there are ample evidences of it. God is at work in reality, let us acknowledge it. In partnering with persons and agencies of good will, in recognising the presence of the Lord in the world through various simple signs,  in attributing to God every single inspiration to common good,  we behold the presence of the Region here amidst us. The first reading from Isaiah presents us these symptoms of the  reign.

2. Block not the Reign

There are certain attitudes and habits through which I become a block or an hindrance to the Reign. The mere fact that I too belong to the so called church and I too have received the Baptism doesn't guarantee that I will allow the Reign come alive here and now. Discriminations on the basis of any criterion - caste or colour or community or availability of resources - is an apparent block to the Reign, says James today.

3. Be Agents of the Reign

The ultimate call is to be positive agents of the Reign in the manner that each one is called to be. My words and attitudes, my thoughts and convictions, my deeds and dispositions have to be Reign friendly. They have to be life giving. They should offer the light to the blind, the voice to the dumb, the hearing to the deaf, the liberation to the suffering... I need to become the agent of the Reign of God here and now. How long am I going to blame the other, moan the times and wait without doing anything? The call is clear: to actively do my part in making present the Reign here and now. How ready am I for the sacrifices involved? How prepared am I to take upon myself the hardships that would come my way and the inconveniences i would have to put up with?

Happy are those who hunger and thirst for the Reign of God, for they shall be satisfied!

Nothing greater than the Person!

Saturday, 22nd week in Ordinary Time

8th September, 2018: 1 Cor 4: 6-15; Lk 6: 1-5

God has an extremely soft corner at heart for God's children! God has been too good, compassionate and forgiving, loving and accepting, never counting the cost when it comes to loving God's children... even to the extent of sending God's only Son to die for our sakes! 

The question is, what matters to us, the prodigal children of God : our ego? our wealth? our social status? our popularity? our comfort? our image in front of others? our rules and our systems? our selfish interests? For how many of these reasons we are ready to sacrifice the persons around us - our own parents, life partners, siblings, kith and kin!

The Lord reminds us today: there is nothing more precious than persons around us. Our judgments of others, however right or wrong they are, cannot take away the value that is inherent in every child of God! A person may be found to be mistaken, he or she may make wrong decisions, they may be tempted and may fail at times - nothing of this can take away the inherent value a person is invested with. 

As we celebrate the birth of our Blessed Mother today, we are reminded of the value that we are invested with, being children of God. Mary who was just like any of us was specially chosen and greatly favoured - we are chosen too and we are blessed too. Let us resolve to never forget the true value that resides within us and within the others!

Mind your Business!

Friday, 22nd week in Ordinary Time

7th September, 2018: 1 Cor 4: 1-5; Lk 5:33-39

At times we mind everybody else's business, forgetting the all important business that we have - our life! The Word today instructs us to mind our business. How hard can one try to satisfy everyone around? Is it worth the effort at all? How many lives are made so boring and barren merely out of living up to the expectations of the world around! The secret of a truly fruitful and meaningful life is: knowing your business and going about it.

Knowing who we are: as St. Paul shares in his letter today, what is expected of a steward is that each one is found worthy of the One whose stewards we are! Knowing who we are and striving to be faithful to it, is the Christian meaning to our life. Christ did just that. He knew he was the Son of God and he lived his life to the full worthy of the identity that he inherited from the Lord. 

We are called to be his stewards, and we are called to live worthy of it, notwithstanding the praises or critiques, the affirmations or discouragements that might come our way. If we try to patch up with unfitting elements merely because those around us are looking for it, if we mix up unblending elements just because the world around enjoys it. if we compromised our life with God with standards and criteria other than God's... we may lose the true sense of our calling. 

The best thing amidst all the mixed voices around is, to know and mind our business!

Every anxiety is Needless!

Thursday, 22nd week in Ordinary Time 

6th September, 2018: 1 Cor 3: 18-23; Lk 5: 1-11

During the Eucharistic Celebration, post the Lord's prayer, there is a section where the priest prays 'save us from all distress'. In the old version of the missal, the words used to be,  'free us from all anxiety'. Some of my priest-friends for sounding novel,  adapted and practical would change it as, free us from all needless anxiety... and I would pick an argument with them-  for a Christian every anxiety is needless!  Every anxiety is needless because everything belongs to God. 

No anxiety,  whether about eating or drinking,  life or death, success or fear,  nothing,  absolutely nothing is warranted if I truly believed in my Lord.  The Lord is in control... all that I need to do is my duties to the best of my abilities and leave the rest to God.  

Call it Nishkama Karma in Indian Philosophical terms, or detachment in psycho-spiritual lingo, or Kantian categorical imperatives in the hi-fi western philosophical parlance... be it what it may, the point is: God  is in charge and I need not worry or be anxious.  It is a difficult mindset but the most liberating one.

It is akin to a child who is playing with one hand, with anything it can lay hands on, but firmly holding on to its father's or mother's hand with the other. This is the imagery we need to fix for ourselves as beloved children of a incredibly caring God...for us every anxiety is needless, because the Lord takes care of it all!

Will you grow up please!

Wednesday, 22nd week in Ordinary Time

5th September, 2018: 1 Cor 3:1-9; Lk 4:38-44

The Church finds itself today in a situation of growing up, under the leadership of Pope Francis. We have a great example in the very concept of a Pope Emeritus and a Pope living in perfect union of heart and mind, setting an example for the entire Church and those who are related to that Faith Community in any way. We are called to be of one heart and one soul (cf. Acts 4: 32) not claiming to belong to Apollos  or to Cephas or to Paul (cf.1 Cor 1:12).  

How sad to see Churches divided on certain unchristian considerations... some churches sealed and communities broken into pieces... and in most of these cases those who are to lead themselves are the causes of division. We have a clarion call to grow up! Pope Francis once said these words beginning of this year: "we should recognise with sincerity and pain that our communities continue to live in division that is scandalous. Division among us Christians is a scandal.  There is no other word: a scandal." We see Jesus in the Gospel today that he refuses to get stuck to the praises, recognition and acceptance. He decides to move on.. to grow on... to grow up!

Mother Teresa, whom we celebrate and thank God for today, lived this call, the call to unite people in goodness of the Lord. To us today, this is the very call that we have. This is the call from the Lord: will you please grow up! Don't blame the situation. Don't blame those who are around. Don't blame the times. Don't blame anyone... just grow up!

Being SPIRIT-ual People!

Tuesday, 22nd week in  Ordinary Time

4th September, 2018: 1 Cor 2: 10-16; Lk 4: 31-37

Being Spiritual in its core means, getting in touch with the indwelling Spirit. 

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. 

Rejecting God is acting against the Spirit, for the Spirit reveals to us in the heart of our hearts! Claiming to know God, is faking spirit, just like the demons which claimed to know God and the Son of God. Knowing God and surrendering ourselves is truly knowing God and it is being Spirit-ual people!

Wisdom and Foolishness

Friday,  21st week in Ordinary Time 

31st August, 2018: 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 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 within a Christian mindset. The sacrifices we make and the selfless goodwill that we have towards others are true Christian parameters of righteousness. 

The shrewdness of the world and the folly of God... the foolishness of the world and the wisdom of God... the difference is crucial. That is what makes a Christian Paradigm!

Doing good without expecting anything in return or without looking for its credits, and more than that, 'being' good in spite of persons who contemplate evil and circumstances  that spread fear, is the cross we are called to embrace if we wish to belong to the Bridegroom!

Waiting...but how?

Thursday, 21st week in Ordinary time

30th August, 2018: 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.

Martyrdom - A matter of fact!

29th August, 2018: 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 up to 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. It is not a choice to die, but a choice to live - live for God, for truth and for righteousness, where eventually death unsuccessfully vies to have its last word. 

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!

Be Scandal Proof!

Tuesday, 21st week in Ordinary time

28th August, 2018: Remembering St. Augustine
2 Thess 2: 1-3a, 14-17; Mt 23: 23-30

I was shocked a few years ago, when I saw a video posted by an anti catholic brother. He was criticising everything 'Catholic' and went to the extent of calling the then Holy Father, the Anti-Christ who is to come. Taking the matter to another priest, I expressed my shock at this. And the priest just smiled at me and said: "a fruitful tree has to foresee stones coming its way!" 

Oppositions, today more than ever, keep growing to unbelievable proportions against the faith and tradition that we have grown with. There are splendid ways of God that we come across in spite of all these oppositions. At same time there is no dearth of examples that fail to communicate God's benevolence to us. 

What we are to do is, simply remain calm and composed at times when we are troubled. No use lamenting the absence of witnesses for the Lord, but being one myself - that is what really matters. And whether we are a model or not, it is important and urgent today to observe, notice and identify the counter witnesses! And it is more important and crucial to be scandal proof! 

Yesterday we celebrated St. Monica and today we have her son St. Augustine! We can imagine how scandal proof Monica would have been to have a husband like hers and the son. Augustine too, was not merely influenced but led himself gradually towards an experience of true conversion and ardent conviction, thanks to St. Ambrose. We are surrounded by sacred memories of these saintly people today: let us resolve never to give scandal to others and to grow more and more scandal proof these days!