Priorities and Perspectives

WORD 2day: Friday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 21, 2019: 2 Corinthians 11: 18, 21-30; Matthew 6: 19-23

Look to Him and be radiant, inspires the Psalmist today. Eyes... Looking... Seeing... are part of the glossary on one hand today. It is all about our priorities and perspectives we have in life, that is, the point of view from where we wish to understand our life and everyday events. 

On the other hand we have two more terms that orient us to the theme - treasure and boast! To treasure or to boast of something, means to value something dear! To value something dear, defines your perspective on life. What I value, what I treasure, what I boast about, will determine what I want to define my life as! Depending on that which I boast about, my life and its significance assume depth. 

This is exactly why Jesus invites me to guard my eyes, to be careful with my perspective on life, my way of looking at my priorities and things that I give importance to. There could be a great model in St. Paul who enumerates the possible things on which he can boast about, but chooses from them to boast on things that showed his weakness, because he would say in the very next chapter, 'when I am weak then I am strong' (2 Cor 12:10). 

The humble and saintly parish priest, St. John Maria Vianney would say, "if people would do for God what they do for the world, my dear people, what a number of Christians would go to heaven!" It all depends on what one's perspective is, what one sees to be important, what one sees to be one's treasure and worthy to be boasted about! How true!

The thorn and the Grace

WORD 2day: Saturday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 22, 2019: 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10; Matthew  6: 24-34

The Thorn and the Grace! Both are within me, what do I choose to see? The question follows from yesterday's reflection, the reflection that the Lord is walking us through. Paul spotted the thorn that intended to hold him down and at the same time the grace at work within him. And he chose to base himself on the grace that is at work and turn the thorn into an experience of feeling the closeness of the presence of God with him. 

Each of us has a thorn, that we need to first identify - may be a habit, or a tendency, or a touchy ego, an over anxiety, an urge to prove oneself, an undue attachment, a passion or longing for something that does not really satisfy! Once we are able to name it, we have the reins in our hands. At times we might falter, but there is always the grace that lifts us up... the loving Lord who brings us up by our hands, the Lord who stays forever close to us, knowing every one of our need and every one of our problems! 

The Lord knows our weakness and the Lord knows our strengths. As St. Paul affirms, the Lord does not allow us to be tempted more than our strength (1 Cor 10:13). Hence it follows that if I tend to fall, it is not because the temptation is beyond my strength but because I have not fully used the strength that is available, the strength that comes from grace and grace alone! 

Let us focus on the grace that accompanies us every day and every moment on the journey of life, and lets turn to it for guidance and light, without any hesitation or fright!

Be ONE... Be not deceived!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 20, 2019: 2 Corinthians 11: 1-11; Matthew 6: 7-15

One cannot but admire the pastoral heart of St. Paul, in today's first reading. A heart that bleeds to see his own people, his 'children' as they were, being assailed by other preachers, other gospels and other attractions, so easily and so readily! What about today, when I see my brothers and sisters so readily falling for eloquence in preaching, vivacity in worship, emotional satisfaction, logicality in reasoning, the capacity for quoting from memory, the free flow of words and phrases that are so beautiful and soothing to hear... it bleeds even today! 

I, personally, have often been remarked by persons as being too conservative or fanatic about the Catholic Church... this is certainly not about that! It is about calling God, OUR Father and Mother... being ONE REIGN OF GOD, doing as brothers and sisters TOGETHER the will of God on earth as in heaven; it is about forgiving the shortcomings of others in the community, the shortcomings of the community itself and staying on, as one community, facing the struggles and temptations as ONE community, overcoming all evil! 

Let us not today get lost in the beauty and the splendour of the Lord's Prayer - that is not the message of the Word... it is all about being a community that is worthy of praying that prayer!  Evangelii Nuntiandi, the Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI (art.no.77) says, "the division among Christians is a serious reality which impedes the very work of Christ." Being of one heart and one mind, believing in the One Gospel that is handed down to us, is the highest witness we can give the world today, in every sphere of life! 

The Call to Sacred Interiority

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 11th week in Ordinary time 

June 19, 2019: 2 Corinthians 9: 6-11; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

I know a person, a good friend of mine,  who is a trainer. He does the training of the younger cadets of the organisation that he was trained in. He distributes training kits and accessories on his own cost to those young trainees and does not receive any payment for his services other than the train ticket for his travel up and down! This has been going on for quite a few years now and I have not revealed his identity because he will not like it absolutely!

The true value of whatever we do depends more on 'why' we do than on 'what' we do. What we do, will vary according to our ability and the context-provided possibilities. But the why, will never change whether what I do increases or reduces. What I wish to reap I will reap; if it is popularity or publicity that I wish,  exactly that I shall reap! If it is true satisfaction and divine interior joy that I wish, precisely that the Almighty will grant! 

Interiority - that is the key word today, while the world keeps shouting out to us, "Get Noticed!" Much of the Spiritual journey is made in the portals of interiority. The capacity to live on the basis of one's personal convictions formed out of concrete experiences and wise judgements, guided and illumined by the inner light of the Spirit of God, is what we understand to be Interiority. 

Cheerful  giving, silent piety, hidden alms, secret sacrifices, tranquil spirituality... these are a few signs of interiority that readings point out today. Few more we could think of are hopeful spirit, realistic optimism, humble gratitude, genuine fellowship, unconditional forgiveness, simple behaviour, reflective thinking, compassionate listening, and so on. A person of interiority is like a still spring and a silent stream, they appear still and silent, but there is life within them. They look quite and ordinary, but within them resides the powerful Spirit of the all powerful God. Does it sound too philosophical? Yes, interiority takes you by force, it drags you in and tethers your mind around something that you cannot speak enough about. That is why great sages of our tradition have spoken very little and mostly in aphorisms; that is why Jesus spoke always in parables and metaphors. Let this call guide our day today - the call to a sacred interiority!

God: the poor businessman

WORD 2day: Tuesday,  11th week in Ordinary time 

June 18, 2019: 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9; Matthew 5: 43-48

Among us friends we have a good laugh whenever we think of an elderly religious who was put in charge of the farm that belongs to a community. Every year at the annual audit he was used to repeating a remark, in his own inimitable modulation: "what I put I get,  what I get I put...no profit, no loss,  no problem".

If we look at the love that God had lavished upon humanity,  he would not have got back even a tiny fraction of what he has put in! Incarnation is just one of the many mighty investments that God had made on our behalf (cf.  2 Cor 8:9)... but consider the dividends! God seems to be such a bad business person and the strangest part of it is,  Jesus invites us to follow God's logic!

St. Paul presents an example of the community of Macedonia to his beloved community of Corinth. He calls them to excel in their faith, to reach the heights of authenticity in their faith. And the way he proposes is, as the people of Macedonia, to be compassionate towards the others, those in want, those in need! Paul is but reiterating the invitation of Christ to all his followers - be you perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect! And the way to perfection that Jesus proposes is in Love - a love that does not expect any appreciation in return, a love that does not expect anything in return, a love that does not expect even love in return. A tough call even for the saintliest among us - to love and expect nothing in return! 

Infact, when something is expected in return it is no love! That is why God's love is unconditional and every love that is genuine, is with absolutely no tags attached. Love is merely a giving, an offering, a self-offering. And obviously, it involves a great risk of rejection or depreciation, but that risk cannot stop me from loving. That is the point. How well said by Mother Teresa, 'Love until it hurts'. Truly Christ-ian!!!  Nothing else is fitting enough for true God's children. Let's love without counting the cost.

Contrasts, convictions and choices...

WORD 2day: Monday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 17, 2019: 2 Corinthians 6: 1-10; Matthew 5: 38-42

The Beatitudes continue to inspire the Liturgy! As we reflected last week, the crux of the beatitudes, that is found in Mathew's fifth chapter, is the invitation to the followers of Christ to be a Contrast Community! 

We see that sense of 'contrast' flooding the readings today. Be it the first or the Gospel, the readings point to us the two choices we have in life always - inspiring the monumental words of Robert Frost - "two roads diverged in a yellow wood - and I took the less travelled by, and that has made all the difference". Mahatma Gandhi speaking of the Sermon on the Mount to Lord Irwin said, "when your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world." 

Let our life show if we are Christ-ians or not. Let my choices define who I am and what relationship I have with Christ. If I believe Christ is my personal saviour, the way I look at the world and all that happens around, will totally be in contrast to the way the mainstream of today thinks and calculates. St. Paul speaks of this in such powerful terms, a conviction that cost him everything - his career, his freedom and even his life! 

It takes courage for me today to accept, that even I have received the same saving faith, as St. Paul's, in the same Trinitarian Lord who create, calls and commissions us!   

THE ABC OF HOLY TRINITY

Solemnity of the Holy Trinity: June 16, 2019

Proverbs 8: 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16: 12-15

We celebrate the feast of the Trinity today! The Solemnity reminds us of, not only who our God is, but also who we are! 

We ARE a communion! 

Just as our God is a communion of three persons - Father, Son and the Spirit, we who are created in that image and likeness, are a communion too. We are neither body living in the spirit, nor a spirit residing in the body... we are a being created in such a communion of our natures that we are one, just as the three persons of the trinity are one. It is high time we undid the contrasts between the body and the soul and the mind! We are communion, we ARE Trinity.

We need to continuously grow out of a dichotomous or a segmented life where there is the public life and the private life, the so-called spiritual life and the ordinary life, the life from the Christian point of view and a parallel life of the standards of the world... this is totally contrary to integrity that is truly 'christian'...this integrity can otherwise be known as Communion within a person, an undivided state of life.

We BELIEVE in communion, not in contestation. 

The three persons of the Trinity live in communion with each other and there is an eternal self giving that takes place among them, by which they stay as ONE. We believe in communion, dialogue, sharing, sacrifice and selfless service. Only that would make us One people of God.

Today the television channels have fallen into a craze - taking a current issue and calling up people from different camps of thought and making them debate, fight and contest with each other. Worse still, they name the show 'fight' or 'debate' or 'argument', parading the truth that they are more interested in contesting than arriving at a common ground that could promote happiness and fulfillment. The dangerous phenomenon is that the same kind of a mindset enters a family and issues are debated over, contested over but very rarely prayed over and discerned towards communion!

We CLING to the Trinity 

In the Trinitarian God we have everything we stand in need of. The Father gives us love and mercy in abundance. The Son gives us the light and truth to live by. The Spirit gives us companionship and good counsel.  All that we need to live our life to the full is given by the Trinitarian God. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are in eternal procession, teaches the Church's theology which means that every one of the three, upholds the other and empties oneself into the others for a unified, generative action.

It may sound a bit too theoretical, but in fact, it is just a life style that would create a paradise on earth wherever we are - if we trust one another and prove trust worthy to each other. That is the message, that we cling to the Trinity not just in asking for favours and fulfilling our needs but in our life style, in our way of relating to the other and making ourselves available to the other, to the community to the entire humanity and even the universe! What a challenging call it is!

As we celebrate this wonderful solemnity, let us take to heart the call and the challenge given to us by the Holy Trinity... to be, to believe and to cling on to the Most Holy Trinity.

Yes, No and New Creation

WORD 2day: Saturday, 10th week in Ordinary time

June 15, 2019: 2 Corinthians 5: 14-21; Matthew 5: 33-37

Whether we live or die, it is for Christ - an absolute allegiance to Christ is what Paul recommends as a sign of true disciples of Christ. Let your yes be yes and your no, no. Such candidness can give rise to problems and challenges. But challenges and problems would not matter as I am a new creation in Christ. 

The Newness refers to the difference in priorities - what the world finds important does not seem so to me and what the world does not bother about seems very important to me; what the world advocates to everyone as the source of happiness in life appears to me a source of sorrow and what the world wants me to avoid as a plague, becomes a way to more permanent happiness that comes from the Lord. The New priority marks the newness that I possess in Christ.

Being in Christ would mean being rooted in Christ, being built up in Christ, being born anew in Christ - making Christ's values my own, Christ's mind my own, Christ's priority my own...No one can be in Christ except through the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives me the courage to maintain my yes, no and my nature as a new creation in Christ. 

Contrast Communities

WORD 2day: Friday, 10th week in Ordinary time

June 14, 2019: 2 Corinthians 4: 7-15; Matthew 5: 27-32

The discourse of the beatitudes continues! Our identity gets more and more established as 'Contrast Communities'! We are invited to choose the hard way, the unbeaten path, the lonesome road and not to follow the easy-going crowd. It is easy to make an exception now and then and stay comfortable for the moment. It is easy to give up on a person or a value or a conviction, because there are troubles and unnecessary struggles involved. But it takes courage to stick to a conviction, stand by a value and stay clear of a scandal. It calls for struggle, affliction and perplexity to remain faithful to the grace we have received in our baptismal mandate. 

I may argue that I am too weak...but it is in that 'earthen vessel' the treasure is placed. My strength and my value lies in the treasure that is within. When my gaze is fixed on the treasure, I should be able to handle the earthen vessel better. The secret lies in respecting this earthen vessel, atleast for the sake of the treasures that lie within. 

When we are filled with Christ, we are able to see the proposals of the easy-going world less luring. Yes, we live with constant temptations and afflictions, but we fight all this "so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh." That tough choice, that unswerving priority is the challenge - the call to be People of God, people of the Beatitudes, that is, to be Contrast Communities. 

The Message and the Messenger

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 13, 2019: Celebrating St. Anthony of Padua

Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 10: 1-9 

Let us begins with some interesting facts about 

• Born: 15, August, 1195
• Died: 13, June, 1231. He was just 36 when he died. 
• Saint: 30 May, 1232. He was not even 37 when he was canonised by Pope Gregory IX.
• His Baptismal name was Ferdinand Martins de Bulhŏes.
• He was elected Provincial of his region of Franciscan friars, but he resigned very shortly  just to be able to carryout his preaching mission.
• Patron of missing things and missing persons!
• In Padua, where the Basilica stands today, he is also prayed to, by those who are looking for the right spouse to marry, or by those married couples who have problems in their marriage. 
• The Basilica treasures the incorrupt tongue of the saint, as a relic venerated even today, as a testimony to his gift of breaking the Word.
• He was a contemporary to St. Francis of Assisi and one of the best ones at that. He belonged to the Order begun by St. Francis.
• A survey reports that after the Blessed Mother and St.Joseph, St. Anthony may be the most loved saint in the Catholic World today.

The Lord sent them two by two... here is 'a two' whom we come across today - St. Anthony and St. Francis - two who were giants of sanctity and with an absolute dedication to the Message! As messengers of the Word they were so dedicated that they transformed themselves into the message that they were proclaiming. Hence they did not need words and eloquence, their life did all the speaking. How far or close are we to the Message? 

May St. Anthony help us to treasure the Word in our hearts and live it to the full.