The God of the Living

Saturday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 24, 2018: Revelations 11: 4-12; Luke 20: 27-40

The God of the living: that is how Jesus presents his God and Father, and our God and Father. Resurrection is the foundation of our conviction that our life is not merely made of the few years that we spend on this earth. Our life is part of the Eternal Stream, that is God and we have but a few years here on earth. We come from and we are meant for, a union that is eternal and all our efforts during this life has to be towards ensuring that union for ever. 

What would be the fall out if we had this truth right in front of our minds while we live? We would not unnecessarily fret to make ourselves comfortable at the cost of the other. We would not long to possess something or someone, leading to undue striving to control the other and manipulate situations. We would not harm others or harm the nature just because at present we would like to make more money or make life more easy. We would not calculate everything in terms of gain and profit and dividends and surplus.

Should we wait for a terrifying moment to repent and reset our values, if that moment has not come already? Jesus offers us a wonderful criterion: the criterion of Resurrection. Live as Resurrection-people; live as people of the Eternity; live as people who really believe that your life does not end here and now; live as people who belong to the God of the Living!

Sweet or Bitter - All for the Reign!

Friday, 33rd week in Ordinary time

November 23, 2018: Rev 10: 8-11; Lk 19: 45-48

Jesus was attractive; people rallied around him so willingly and readily. He was interesting to listen to; so many pharisees and scribes hung on to his lips. He was famous; the mere name drew not just crowds but even prominent persons like Zachaeus. He had charming ways; even Herod wanted to see him atleast once! All these were true only in as much as they all looked at Jesus from a distance. When Jesus got near...he turned demanding.

The people came to him and he challenged them to live a life of destitution, with no place to even lay their heads. The people listened to him and he called them whitewashed sepulchers, inviting them to true personal conversion. Individuals approached him and he challenged them to total reformation of their personal and public lives. The people led him with such celebration into the city of Jerusalem and he enters the Temple and drives out the vendors and money lenders.  

The Lord's promises are sweet, but when we take it to heart they are demanding. If we truly listen to the Word of God, we cannot remain the same forever, we would be challenged to change, to transform, to become more and more like the Lord himself. 

Yes, the Word may be sweet in the mouth; but for sure it will be bitter in the stomach, but only to churn out the unwanted elements and paving way towards the Reign. The Word heals us, nurtures us and prepares us to be people of the Reign!

The Right Weeping - Christian style

Thursday, 33rd week in Ordinary time 

November 22, 2018: Revelations 5:1-10; Luke 19:41-44

Weeping is Christ-ian too when it is done for the right reasons and in the right mode.  Jesus himself wept, it is said, once for his friend and the other time for Jerusalem... both that they may be saved in the Lord.

John weeps in the first reading today that there is no one to open the scroll.  Such was his eagerness to hear the Word and understand the will  of God.  Crying,  weeping, complaining for the right reasons is commendable. 

But the unfortunate fact is that we cry and weep for all wrong reasons!  We cry because we did not get what we wanted or we weep because we miss what we would have loved to have... In all such, what stands out is, me, my desires and my prospects.

Our minds have to transcend a self-centred understanding of reality, petty  materialistic outlook on life and childish worldly worries.  We need to fix our gaze on the things above... and rise above our basic living.  

How many of us truly understand or atleast strive to explore the real and deep purpose of our lives? Didn't the Lord instruct us: seek first the Reign of God, the rest shall be given unto you!

True Praises to the Lord is Total Offering

Presentation of Mary, our Blessed Mother

November 21, 2018: Revelations 4: 1-11; Luke 19: 11-28

In the first reading today, John impresses upon us how important and essential it is for us, as creatures of the Creator Almighty, to give praise to our Lord and King. Praising God - can never be done enough and it is always in want, in contrast to the boundless glory that the Lord possesses! The Word today distinguishes among three types of people who give praises to the Lord:

The first are the Psuedo Praisers: who praise the Lord with their tongues but are far away in spirit from the Lord. They are those who deceive themselves putting up a mere show of their allegiance to God, while in fact are all the while doing their own will. Wantonly, they make of themselves people unfit for the Reign.

The second are the Pointless Praisers: who think praising the Lord alone is enough to inherit the Reign. Their praising is pointless, in fact the Lord himself had declared: 'not all those who call me Lord Lord, will enter the Reign of God' (cf. Mt 7:21). Ultimately, they fall short of entering the Reign. 

The third are the Profound Praisers: who do not consider praising the Lord as a duty in itself. Their very words, actions and life gives praise to the Lord. Their witness leads, not only themselves, but even those around them to praise the Lord to the heights. They live their life to the full, and seeing their lives, people are inspired to give praises to their King and Lord. They do not praise the Lord with just words or gestures, but with their daily life! These are the People of the Reign, true and profound in their praise.

Mary, our Blessed Mother is of this third category - a person who praised the Lord in and through her life, a person who  learnt very early in life what truly godly life meant. Today, as we celebrate the memory of her presentation in the Temple, let us honour her for the total self giving into the hands of the Lord. She teaches us by example, that true praises to the Lord is total offering of oneself unto the Lord!

Cold or hot, closed or open?

Tuesday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time

November, 20, 2018: Revelation 3: 1-6,14-20; Luke 19:1-10

Choices and compromises make a great difference in Christian living;  what matters is not so much what we do as what we intend to. Our heart and our intentions matter much more than acts and results.  This is both an advantage and a disadvantage for the human heart.  

Advantage for those who are sincere with their efforts to remain true and dedicated to the Lord,  inspite of their shortfalls.  Disadvantage for those who create an aura around themselves as if  they are spiritual giants while there rest skeletons inside the cupboard conveniently covered off, but the Lord knows all and sees all.

Our innermost disposition is what truly decides who we really are! It is from these innermost dispositions that we make our choices. You cannot remain both dead and alive at the same time; hot and cold at the same time; or belonging and not belonging to the Lord at the same time! You have to make a choice and choices are all! 

Like Zacchaeus who not only changed from his old ways but made up even for the mistakes, for his wrong doings and every thing that made others' lives less happy, we are called everyday to make some drastic choices. The choice is ours - to keep to our hidden ways or to open up and let Jesus in! And once he comes, things cannot remain the same!

Let your choices be translated into acts of commitment. Acts of grandeur lacking true internal choices cannot bear the true lasting fruits that we long for. Choices matter: are you cold or hot,  your hearts closed or open?

Good but not good enough- See that?

Monday, 33rd week in Ordinary Time

November 19, 2018: Revelations 1:1-4, 2:1-5; Luke 18: 35-43

The Lord loves us whether or not we deserve it.  But the Lord is not merely mercy but justice too!  Beginning today we listen to the Lord of justice as we begin the week running up to the feast of Christ the King.

Today the Word presents to us a Lord who is demanding and perfect... who feels all God's children are good but some are not good enough! The question to me is, to which category I belong? I should be able to see and to understand if I am good enough or not!  

When we begin something new, we always do it with so much of good will and an abundance of spirit ... just imagine the day of your first communion, for some confirmation, for some others the day of their religious consecration or for others the day of their wedding! But in a short while the energy drains, the spirit goes faint and a mere good will becomes drastically insufficient. The reason: we are not attentive enough to note the initial changes that happen. We remain so insensitive to what is happening within us that we are caught unawares at a much crucial time. That is why the prayer today: "Lord grant that we may see again!" (Cf. Lk 18:41).

Staying in touch with the Lord keeps us in touch with ourselves, to constantly check our pride, insensitivities, arrogance, unforgiving attitude, judgmental tendencies, loose talks and compromises against true love: these are the blindnesses that set in gradually but drastically! We become so blind that we do not even realise what sad levels we reach. And it is the Lord, who alone can restore the original spirit within us by enabling us to see... empowering us to realise and restart... making us "see again!" 

We are reaching the end of this liturgical year... and it is time now that each of us make it our prayer: Lord, that I may see again... that is a special seeing, a seeing from God's point of view, a seeing with the scale of the just God, seeing with all my brothers and sisters in perspective,  seeing from the perspective of God, the fullness of all goodness! 

BLESSED

The Cry, the Answer and to Free!

2nd World day of the Poor: November 18, 2018
33rd Sunday in Ordinary time - Daniel 12: 1-3; Hebrew 10: 11-14,18; Mark 13: 24-32

The poor one cried and the Lord answered (Ps 34:6) - this is the verse the Holy Father gives us to reflect on, this 2nd World day of the Poor. We know the history of this day - how two years ago concluding the year of Mercy in 2016 Pope Francis instituted the 33rd Sunday, that is the Sunday prior to the Christ the King Sunday, as dedicated to the poor, as a compassionate solidarity and a prophetic challenge on the part of the universal people of God. Writing to orient us on this day, this year, the holy father has chosen the words of the Psalmist from Psalm 34 and gives us these three terms to fix our attention on: the cry, the answer and to free!

The Poor - is a dense term to understand. They are called the 'anawim' of Yahweh... the helpless who cry out to God. The hungry, the starving, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the voiceless, the deprived, the exploited, the unemployed, the despised, the suffering, the lonely, the homeless, the hopeless, the marginalised, the excluded, the detested... the list goes on. The poor are the apple of the eye of the Lord!

The Cry of the poor: 
Blessed are the poor, the Gospels proclaim. The reason is, because their cry finds the shortest route to the Lord's ears, for God is there right amidst them! The cry of the afflicted is a judgement pronounced on the world and the world today is so oblivious of it. When the blood of Abel cried out to the Lord, when the cry of the oppressed people in Egypt reached the ears of the Lord, the Lord came down with force on those who were the oppressors! Today the cry of the poor is rising everywhere and the world is incurring a judgement upon itself! Woe to us, if we do not hear that cry. Hearing that cry means, seeing their plight, feeling their pain and suffering their lot. It is in silence that we can listen...they are crying but the world is justifying itself in such loud noise that it refuses to hear the cry. Do not judge! Do not criticise! Do not moralise! Just remain silent, then you shall hear the cry... the groan, the mourn, the sound of the dry tears! Like the Eternal high priest who identifies with us, we are called to identify with everyone who is in pain or suffering today.

The Answer of the Lord:
The Lord answers the cry of the poor, as the Psalmist affirms because, the Lord suffers with the poor and knows their pain. We cannot be like those who stood beneath the cross when Jesus cried out to his Father and said, 'wait lets see if someone will come to help him'! We are called to be the Answer of the Lord - the Lord intends to answer through anyone around the one who cries out! Very listening is an answer, telling the person you are not alone. Understanding is an answer, making the person feel accepted. Solidarity is an answer, strengthening the hope of the person that things are bound to change for the better. Our loving attentiveness to the cries of the poor, is the primary answer from where a new world begins, where humanity is restored, where the Reign of God blossoms. Can we be so insensitive as to throw millions of millions procuring arms and ammunition while millions die of starvation, dump thousands of crores on lifeless statues while thousands die of malnutrition... even spending disproportionate billions building a Church,  lakhs on a flag mast or a grotto today, would come under the same insanity! Is this the answer that the Lord intends today? The hour is near, dear friends. Let us not be asleep; let us awaken and act in the name of the Lord.

To Free the Poor:
The psalmist continues to say that the Lord heard the poor and 'freed' them! Yes, poverty is not just a case; poverty is caused! It is caused by selfishness, pride, greed, injustice, insensitivity, indifference and heartlessness. The poor continuously cry out and we are called to free them from the oppression - if we do not feel that call, we are part of the oppressors! Much before we think of freeing the oppressed, the poor and the suffering from their troubles and struggles, we need to first decide to free them from the judgments we pass on them in our hearts, the insensitive branding that the world imposes on them, the inhuman stance that today's development takes against them. The helpless are powerful, because they have the Lord on their side. Those who are against them have the Lord against them and let us beware! The war is already waging, the first reading tells us today, it is high time we choose, on whose side we are! 

The Poor... Blessed are we if we are poor... Woe to me, if there are poor because of me! I am close to the Lord if I hear the cry of the poor; I belong to the Lord if I answer those cries; and I belong to the Reign when I resolve to set them free! 

For the poor one cried and the Lord heard and set the person free!

Goodness to strangers - How Strange!

Saturday, 32nd week in Ordinary Time

November 17, 2018: 3 John 5-8; Luke 18: 1-8

The first reading today speaks of Godliness, as being good to strangers. Doesn't that sound strange in today's context. People find being good to the known, already a little too tedious. But among the people of God in the Old Testament, taking care of strangers, widows and the orphans was a special commission given to them by God. And that was an experiential learning on the part of the people who were themselves strangers, orphans and sojourners.

Unfortunately the population of the kind that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel - those who do neither fear God nor respect people - is on the rise and with no qualms of conscience. Religious or Irreligious, educated or uneducated, male or female ...nothing serves an exception to this condition. The generation is becoming more and more insensitive. 

Killing for a pittance, killing for honour, killing for payment, killing for religion, killing for profits, killing for property, killing for convenience, killing even in the name of God... what is humanity going towards? With all these, speaking of being good to strangers - how strange! 

The term stranger or foreigner was indicative of every one in need, people in insecure circumstances. Today we have every category you can ever think of within this definition of the people in need. The exploited, the immigrants, the refugees, the unemployed and the homeless: today we have a responsibility towards this part of humanity. Pope Francis leads us by example in this expression of true Christian love! But including him, all those who think in this manner are considered abnormal, unacceptable and strange... better be ready to be considered strange - that's being truly Christian!

Love, and do what you wish!

Friday, 32nd week in Ordinary Time

November 16, 2018: 2 John 4-9; Luke 17: 26-37

Looking at the bizarre developments in the world, the political situations across the globe, the turmoils that are created and sustained, the controversies that are cooked up and blown out of proportions, enmity that is cultivated and hatred that is stabilised, one cannot but think of the proximity of the end of times! It is natural that these days, people are constantly looking out for such things - the armageddon, the end of the world, the third world war, the second coming etc. At times they query as to what would be the best way to prepare themselves towards these phenomena. The answer is so simple... go on living your Christian life to the full. And how do you live the Christian life to the full: Love!

Love! That is no new teaching. It is the summary of all teachings of Christ. There is almost nothing you can do when the end comes, whenever it comes! There is nothing special that you are expected to do too, that is why the time is not announced earlier. 

Live your daily life in love and peace, encounter people, share your joys, reduce misunderstandings, increase genuine relationships, laugh with those who laugh and weep with those who weep, forgive and accept, in short, just LOVE! 

Take time to simplify things  and do not insist on complicating them in the name of anything like traditions, protocol and customs. Be transparent in your dealings and do not unduly try to please someone for its own sake! Be good, be loving and be truthful; be caring, be selfless and be childlike, in short, just LOVE!

St. Augustine's words are a very pertinent lesson: love, and do what you wish! Because true love is to wish the good of the other! Once you wish the good of the other, all that you need to do is go on and live... Love and keep living!

The Reign of Brothers and Sisters

Thursday, 32nd week in Ordinary Time

November 15, 2018: Philemon 7-20; Luke 17: 20-25

The Reign of God is among you, reminds Jesus. This has been a revolutionary teaching of the Lord for ages; it has incited liberation movements and over thrown some inhuman systems. Today the reminder returns - to make present, to feel the presence and to accept the obligation presented to us by the Reign of God in our day to day life. 

It is true. The Reign of God is not merely some sort of a regime to be imported into an already existing system, it is a mentality, a way of life, a culture to be nurtured and nourished into full growth from amidst us. Our daily life, our normal relationships, our outlook on others, our convictions towards true humanity - that is truly the Reign of God. More than an expectation, Reign of God is a responsibility. 

One of the responsibilities of the Reign is to look at everyone as brothers and sisters and not in terms of subject or as objects. Even if it is a servant or a so-called slave, look at the person, accept the inherent dignity of the person and give them their due without grudging. Let go of divisive mentalities and competitive spirits, look at everyone as a co-pilgrim on this journey called life.

There are moments when one gives and others, when one receives. One is not better than the other; both are part of the same process. No giver is always a giver; one shall find oneself at the receiving end at some point of time, provided he or she is ready to see!

The Reign of God is here, begin to feel it, work to make it present and spread it in spirit through everything you are involved in.