Holiness: GROWING AFRESH IN THE LORD

The Crossroad: A FRESH ITINERARY

April 7, 2019: Fifth Sunday in Lent

Isaiah 43: 16-21; Philippians 3: 8-14; John 8: 1-11

We have arrived at the crossroad on our journey to holiness. After the four milestones, we have covered a good part of our journey and are reminded of the fact that every encounter with the Lord initiates a fresh itinerary. It is a fresh itinerary and not just a little change over. The message today is this: Lent is no time for regret or remorse. Nor is it a call to resume our life after a short break. It is a time to start afresh. Start afresh from the forgiveness of the Lord!

The experience of being forgiven is a refreshing moment, it is not a moment that reminds us of all the wrong that we have done. If it does so, then it ties us to our past. We will be filled with regrets and remorse, and guilt will reign supreme! That is what happened to Judas. He betrayed his friend and teacher - Jesus. Yes, it was wrong but it wasn't worse than Peter who denied even knowing the Master who loved him so much. But we see Peter come out of that treacherous situation unscathed, not Judas! The reason, with Judas there was regret, remorse and the resultant guilt. With Peter there was the will to restart! That is what the Lord challenges us today, as he tells us: Go sin no more! 

At times our lenten experience can become an interim experience, as it happens in an institution during the moments of 'inspection' or 'verification'. It is like my experience. I have the habit of filling my table with books and notes that I work with. It may look like a mess over my table, but I go on with my work. At a point of time I would just take it upon myself to start clearing the mess and start putting some order. When the table looks empty and orderly, one of my friends would remark with a smile: "let us see how long it lasts!" Rightly so, the books and notes would return in no time! Lent cannot be that short time of "putting order" and then to resume the 'ordinary life'. That would make it all an excessive effort for too little a cause.

Lent has to be a moment of Starting afresh! It should be a time when I have to decide on elements to be TRASHED in my life. St. Paul speaks of that categorical choice for Christ: when everything else becomes rubbish. It is a moment to ascertain the only thing to be TREASURED - the renewing mercy of God brought to us by the redeeming love of Christ. And it is a challenge to TONE UP our life, forgetting the failures  of the past and Restarting our journey with Christ. That is what Jesus tells the woman: behold I create something new for you, a new life, a new start. Come, start again and and be joyful. 

On our journey to holiness, we are invited to constantly restart our journey. This means knowing the unconditional love of God, trusting in its unending nature and striving without giving up to get closer and closer to holiness of life. In short, it is Growing afresh in the Lord.

Be Prepared

Journey to Holiness: they will hate you for no reason!

April 6, 2019: Saturday, Fourth week in Lent

Jeremiah 11: 18-20; John 7: 40-52

These days we are speaking of the attack by a mob on the School run by the Immaculate Sisters in Tamilnadu... this is just one of so many similar things that are happening every now and then in various parts of today's polarised India. Why should this happen on these institutions which are serving the needy? Because they are being good? Because they are living their life for others? Or merely because they were doing it all in the name of Jesus?

Jeremiah was hated for living a righteous life. Jesus was hated for the good he was doing and the joy he was bringing to the poor and the oppressed, and moreover because he was from Galilee! The world does not need a reason to hate you. It will find a reason by all means, unless you compromise with it. The moment you stand for what you believe and live in conformity to only what you stand for, you got to be prepared! 

Holiness, would have it that even in the face this hatred you continue loving, that you continue doing good, that you do not retaliate nor seek to avenge them some how! The best example is the Cross that shines before us specially during this season, the greatest sign of the power of love! Forbearance towards those who do wrong against you, is definitely a sign of holiness. 

Holiness tip for today: Be ready and prepared for opposition when you wish to be good; don't compromise!

Be Enduring

Journey to Holiness: let nothing disturb you!

April 5, 2019: Friday, Fourth week in Lent

Wisdom 2:1,12-22; John 7: 1-2,10,25-30

Enduring all odds is a necessary quality for a servant of God. If only a person wants to remain faithful to what the Lord has called him or her for, the person has to grow tough from within. One cannot allow something to affect him or her so easily, if the person wants to go all the way with one's vocation. 

Endurance means the capacity to dedicate oneself for a cause and to stand by that cause come what may. Here we are speaking of the Lord's chosen ones and their capacity for total dedication. There are two types of situations that can make one lose one's endurance: the opposition of the Godless and the indifference of the thoughtless.

The Godless interpret everything that you do in their own sense and malign your name and whatever you are upto. The first reading says, their malice makes them blind to anything that is godly. The thoughtless are the so called 'religiously diligent' people but who are lost in their own world, who wish that everyone fits into their framework of understanding. Jesus is struggling against these in the Gospel today. 

We may be faced with the Godless who oppose us, malign us, persecute us...are we going to give up being messengers of the Lord? We may be surrounded by the self righteous lot who find fault merely because we do not fit into their frameworks...are we going to lose heart? If we are broken because of these experiences, that is a fragrant offering we can give the Lord but we need to endure! The worst of everything is if we ourselves fall into one of the two categories - the godless or the thoughtless. Let us be careful.

Holiness tip for today: Let nothing disturb us and let us never be weary of doing good (2 Thes 3:13)

Be Testimonies

Journey to Holiness: endure, hold on and see the wonders

April 4, 2019: Thursday, Fourth week in Lent

Exodus 32: 7-14; John 5: 31-47

The Gospel today is a very dense passage where Jesus speaks of his testimonies to himself and of God who had sent him. In the extensive discourse what he wants to highlight is that we know, we understand, we come to believe but these do not stand firm for long. A bit of a trouble, or a small delay in favours, or an untoward incident that breaks our plans, or an unexpected turn of events that gets us into crisis, takes us away from God. We see people going away from God, denying God, or creating their own "god" when things do not go the way that they wanted. 

The call is to be testimonies to the Lord and to what the Lord wants to accomplish in and through us. And the crucial questions are: How enduring are we in our commitment to the Lord? How prepared are we to hold on, in the face of struggles? How persevering are we to wait for the wonders that the Lord has in store for us!

How short lived our memories turn out to be with regard to good things, while how strong they remain in relation to negative elements! Can we overcome this human tendency and believe in God, love God and trust in God, without ceasing, in order that we behold every good thing that the Lord has planned for us?

Holiness tip for today: Believe in the Lord and check how much your thoughts and words bear testimony to the Lord!

Be Diligent

Journey to Holiness: beware, the Word judges

April 3, 2019: Wednesday, Fourth week in Lent

Isaiah 49: 8-15; John 5: 17-30

God is merciful, but God's mercy is not devoid of justice; it is a perfection of justice! Hence Mercy cannot become an escapism on my part. Can I deceive the Lord who knows me through and through? Can I escape from the Word which cuts through right till it divides the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow.

God's mercy is there for the taking! Yes, it is freely given without any conditions, but I should be in a position to make it my own, and that responsibility is upon me. The Word today points to us how the Lord is so enthusiastic about saving us and intervening into our life for our wholeness at the right and appointed time. It also adds, that we will be judged on the degree of our diligence in this regard.

How readily do we turn to God in times of tests? How early do we spot ourselves straying away from the path? How mindful are we about what we are called to do, in order to prevent unnecessary developments in life? As a way to keep ourselves from going astray Don Bosco used to say, do what you are supposed to be doing with a sense of diligence and that will take you a long way towards sanctity. 

Knowing what I am expected to do, understanding the purpose behind the calling and being diligent in carrying out God's will for me at every single moment... that is the way we live as people of the Word.

Holiness tip for today: Whatever you do, find God's will in it and be diligent in carrying it out

Be Life-giving

Journey to Holiness: Notice life flowing unto to you

April 2, 2019: Tuesday, 4th week in Lent

Ezekiel 47: 1-9, 12; John 5: 1-3, 5-16

We read of the waters giving life and health wherever it flowed, in the first reading. The people and the crippled man whom we meet in the Gospel today knew about this life giving water and the man wanted to go into the water that it could give health back to him. The life giving water was just a little away from him, but he could not get into it. When Jesus came to him, hardly did he notice that the life giving water had come to him, instead of he going to it. 

Many a time, we are so too... hardly noticing the life giving water flowing unto us! Jesus comes to us, the Life-giver comes in search of us every moment of our lives and we fail to receive him with the eagerness that we should - instead we are all worried about things that do not matter at all. Just like those Jews who saw the crippled man walk with his mat and were more worried that he was carrying the mat on a sabbath than wondering how he received his health back! 

We would also turn life giving if only we notice the life giver come to us in every way everyday. Wherever we go, we could carry his presence, give life to all and make people wholesome. That is the walk of holiness we are invited to make: to receive life from the life giver and give to all, as life-givers! Let us realise and take seriously our call to be life givers!

Holiness tip for Today: Get in touch with the Life-giver, and touch some one today, making them more filled with life and happiness.

Be Yielding

Journey to Holiness: Don't be stubborn with Grace

April 1, 2019: Monday, 4th week in Lent

Isaiah 65: 17-21; John 4: 43-54

At times we speak of Grace as some'thing' to be received from God: terms like more graces, special graces, immediate graces, etc. betray such an understanding. The most Christian understanding of Grace would be the continual proximity of God. The Lord promises us to be with us and the Lord is always faithful to this promise. The challenge is that we realise this presence and feel it concretely. When we do that, everything turns new - the earth, the heaven, the life, the experience, the persons around, the problems that persist... everything is renewed! But the need is that we YIELD!

The Gospel today brings out this message very subtly. The Court Official's petition for a favour was a bit irritating for Jesus - Jesus expresses that but the official finds favour when he yields to the terms of Jesus: 'You Go and your son will live'...the man turns and walks! He wanted grace, the proximity of Jesus, but he willingly yields to experience it in the Lord's own terms. If I remain stubborn as to what I want to experience and that I must experience it in my own terms, then I restrict the great wonders that can happen around me. 

Yielding requires three major qualities of Faith: Confidence, Surrender and Humility. It is to say wholeheartedly : 'God is in-charge!"

Holiness tip for today: Take your life to the Lord, every situation that needs the Lord's presence, and surrender it to the Lord- that's the best type of Prayer.

Holiness: GROWING THROUGH PROMISES

Milestone: The PROMISED LAND

March 31, 2019: Fourth Sunday in Lent
Joshua 5: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21; Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

On our journey to holiness, after understanding the milestones of the desert, the mountain and the holy ground, we arrive at the next in line: the Promised Land. This is the foundation on which our Christian life is built; the foundation of hope!

I remember it was during our Novitiate year, we were suggested to follow a spirituality of identifying ourselves with one of the plants or trees that stood in our campus and observe its growth and reflect on our own growth in relation to it. Looking out of the window from our study hall, there was a  tree which was almost dead, its bark dry and dark. But I had chosen that tree, because I was drawn by the small little shoot that jetted out right on top, tender and green! I was so happy to see how life can come out of such tough situations! The very next day I saw someone had cut the tree and the tree lay down flat on the ground! I was so grieved and feared what sign the Lord is giving! When I spoke to my Spiritual Director, he said not to lose hope and to look out for another plant or tree. But I had made up my mind never again to try this exercise on myself anymore. After a fortnight or more one fine morning as I sat in the study hall and just casually looked out, my eyes widened as I saw the dry bark of the tree on the ground, but a new leaf that had just sprung up from that so-called dead bark! Oh what a message of Hope that was: trusting in the magnificent promises of the Lord!

Behold I make everything new, the Lord promises! The Lord is continually making things new. Our task is to Trust in the Lord! The First reading speaks of the trust that the wandering people of Israel had and how that Trust did not fail. They eat the produce of the land they were promised! The Manna stopped that was not sad...because there was something better given to them. To trust in the Lord even amidst discouraging moments of inhumanities that we find around or in spite of the sinful tendencies we identify within us, is a special ability. It is this trust that inspired the prodigal son to gather courage to come back to his father.

The Manna stopped yes, but they were to Taste a different bread, the bread of the Mercy of the Lord. They tasted and they gave praises to the Lord: Taste and See that the Lord is good.That was something new and far more greater than what they had tasted till then. The younger son had truly tasted his father's love, that he knew how great it was and returned to that taste. 

Tasting the never-failing promises of the Lord is a tough call. At times we fail, due to our arrogance, impatience and insensitivity and trample upon the life-giving promises, not really mindful of the fruits they can produce within us. Look at the elder son in the parable narrated by Jesus today: he is no different from the younger son; in fact he is far worse than his younger brother. The younger son was physically away, but the elder son was spiritually so far away from the Father: he had been calculating, expecting, comparing, grumbling and grudging all work! How sad, that he was so near the Father yet so far. He was trampling down the life giving promises of his father... just like we do, when we do not taste the mercy of the Lord enough to freely and generously share it with others, with everyone else, laying conditions and clauses that would exclude all those whom we intend to. Would that really help us grow? Growing through the promises of the Lord means, trusting in those promises and tasting them so much that we would never trample them under the foot of our arrogance or indifference, but always grow worthy of them.

On our journey to holiness let us trust in the promises of the Lord and grow through them, tasting them and inviting everyone else to taste them in and through us.

Be Spiritual

Journey to Holiness: it is to grow more and more loving

March 30, 2019: Saturday, Third week in Lent

Hosea 5:15 - 6:6; Luke 18: 9-14

Being Spiritual at times is confused with being self-righteous! Being self-righteous involves a large dose of judgement of the other. When you judge, you do not love. So being self righteous you begin to love the other lesser and lesser, and yourself more and more! It is a kind of narcissism (a pitiable condition of excessive self love). Whereas today the Word invites us to love, more than to sacrifice; to get to know who the Lord is and who we are in relation to the Lord, than making our spiritual efforts mere rituals. 

Being Spiritual truly should mean growing more and more loving. More loving towards God and more loving towards those around us. Growing more loving means, that we grow more and more open, to sincerely appreciate the other in their goodness, to sensitively confront the other in their shortcomings, to readily accept my own limitations with gratitude when pointed out, to reach out to the other in whatever way I can even if it costs me a bit.

Being Spiritual means to understand within me what the Spirit wants of me and to lead my life in the Spirit's path. The Spirit of the Lord wants us to grow more and more loving and less and less judgmental. The Holy Father seems to be repeating this time and again and in fact this quality is the crux of Christian love.  

Holiness tip for today: Relate lovingly, become conscious of your tendency to judge and grow more and more loving!

Be Loving

Journey to Holiness: the typical Christian life style

March 29, 2019: Friday, Third week in Lent

Hosea 14: 2-10; Mark 12: 28-34

The twofold love that Jesus speaks of today is a message that we are used to hearing so much - Love of God and love of the neighbour. But what makes the difference here is the first reading which provides a slightly different context in which we read the commandments from the Lord. What is the context: Hosea speaks of returning to the Lord. 

The whole of Lent is a time we reflect on returning to the Lord, repentance and reforming our lives. Jesus seems to suggest, be truly loving and you would have returned to the Lord much faster than you imagined! Loving God and loving neighbours is the Christian lifestyle and it provides the fundamental way to reach the Lord. Here we can make two statements and that will explicate the teaching clearer:

You make all your sacrifices, give all the alms that you can, spend all the time that you find in prayer and adoration, speak about God and be passionate about your religious duties, but if you do not love your brother and sister, beginning with those in your family- you are far from a truly Christian life.

Instead, you find it so hard to fast or so difficult to mortify yourself, you find it difficult to find even half an hour together to sit in front of the Lord and you find it so difficult to go to Church... but you love your brother or your sister genuinely, with a sincere heart and godly sense... you are so close to the Lord and the Lord's way of life!

Holiness tip for today: Be loving - in your thought, word and deed, love everyone whom you meet, offering it up to the Lord consciously.