Being the Household of God

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 24, 2019: Ezra 6: 7-8,12,14-20; Luke 8: 19-21 

'House', 'Mother', 'brothers and sisters' ... today's readings present to us terms that seem to draw a highly familiar note to our faith. It is important to look at our faith and its expression in terms of living in the presence of God, living as brothers and sisters of the Lord and as brothers and sisters in the Lord, instead of duties, obligations and rituals to be faithfully carried out. 

It is all a question of priority and clarity of the essentials. At times we get lost in the minute details and let go of a gross reality - may be this is what Christ spoke of when he said of the Pharisees and Scribes: you strain the gnats, but swallow the camels! It is not for laughing at them, but for us to question ourselves whether we are being blind to larger deformities in our Christian faith, than the rubrics, rituals and rites that we fight about. 

The basic premise of our faith has to be a loving relationship with God which makes us related to each other, and makes us persons dwelling under the same roof - every place we encounter each other becomes a 'house of God' to encounter God in the other, alive and active, warm and vibrant. Understood thus, can faith ever divide us? In spite of our faith, if we consider some 'apart' from us, 'lower' or 'higher' than us or not belonging to us, what kind of followers of Christ are we? And worse, if it leads to harming the other, will it still be worthy of the name 'faith'?

By our call and our baptism we are called to live as a household of God, a household that invites, welcomes, receives and embraces everyone as brothers and sisters! What is important is not merely being in the household of God, but being the household of God.

Holiness - beyond your history or geography!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 23, 2019: Remembering Padre Pio
Ezra 1:1-6; Luke 8:16-18

Today we come across an event which seemed messianic for the people of Israel, in fact it is said that they began to look at King Cyrus as the promised messiah, as he gave them the long desired liberty and came forward to build their ruined temple. The message the Word has today is loud and clear - your history and geography has nothing much to decide when it comes to what kind of a person you would want to be. Neither can we write a person off because he or she does not belong to the category we expect that person to be, nor can we escape our divine call citing our background and where we belong! When the Lord calls you, the Lord calls you with all your history and geography!

Being the light of the nations was a collective call given to the people through the prophets; it was also the Christian identity according to Christ - the same Jesus who proclaimed, "I am the Light of the World" (Jn 9:5), commissions us, "you are the light of the world" (Mt 5:14) and "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Mt 5:16). Holiness, the light to this world, is not about what some people have to achieve, but what every child of God has to be.

St. Pius of Pietrelcina or fondly and popularly known as PADRE PIO, whom we remember today is a prodigy in holiness belonging to our times - a shining light today bringing so many people to glorify the Lord. It is said, he would get upset with those who made their confession to him, but without true sense of conversion in their heart. He knew that holiness, though it is called to shine as a light, lies in that secret of the heart known only to God and the person. Let us be filled with the Light, and let our light shine and reach out - to brighten the lives of people in gloom and warm the hearts of persons who have grown cold!

WWW: WEALTH, WELLBEING & THE WORLD

The Web of Life in today's World

September 22, 2019: 25th Sunday in Ordinary time
Amos 8: 4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16: 1-13

We have needs, wants and desires... they are but human. One has to be attentive about the difference between these three- how many times we confuse among these! Our wants and desires fill our minds so much that we make of them much too big than what they out to be - we are happy only when we get some desires come true, we are fulfilled only when we get some things that we want... yes we turn these ordinary wants and desires into needs. Just imagine today, the number of things that we have made necessities of life: are they really needs? or just wants and desires? Be what they may be, the fact is that, only when they are fulfilled we are happy and grateful; when they are not, we keep beseeching the Lord, sometimes requesting, sometimes begging, sometimes obstinately pressurising, sometimes fighting, sometimes complaining and what not! Prosperity, from the time of the theology of the promised land, has always been looked at as a blessing from the Lord. Even today how many preachers take up this as a way of alluring people - whether to God or to themselves - we are not here to judge! The focus here is on that so-called prosperity... in simple terms, Wealth.

Wealth makes our life easy and our living pleasurable. By the very fact that it is a blessing, it is obvious that it is 'given' and it is to be given. Wealth is a means provided for one not only to live his or her life, but also extend his hand to the needy, the unfortunate, the underprivileged, the have-nots, so that their life becomes blessed through one's instrumentality. Wealth, is a blessing, and more over a means, to be a blessing to the others! Prophet Amos minces no words in the first reading today. Swindling the other, manipulating the other and hurting the other for one's own well-being, is not Christian attitude; and it is no well-being at all.

Well-being is not merely one's individual pleasure and possession! Even if one possesses everything, if there is not harmony in his or her surroundings one cannot cherish those possessions. How many individuals who possess enormous riches but lack an internal serenity bear witness to this fact. How many nations today which seem rich and affluent but lack peace and security attest to this fact. Authentic Well-being is harmony in every sense, within oneself, around oneself and with the entire universe! It is the 'quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in everyway', that St. Paul speaks of in the second reading. Selfishness and Greed can never lead us to this well-being. Concern and Compassion, a collective thinking of 'all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth' - only such an outgoing spirit can grant the world, a real Well-being.

The world and the life we live today is an opportunity given to us, reminds Jesus in the Gospel with his intriguing parable of the prudent steward! Intriguing it is, because it seems to advocate slyness and fraud. But that is not the point. The focus lies on another perspective, and it is: however limited and burdensome, the present life we live is all that we have, here and now, to make our journey toward our 'eternal abode' pleasant and meaningful. It is said, how we live our life here will define and determine how we will exist hereafter. 

We have the gift and the Giver: of these, what matters to us is the crucial question. It cannot be that both gift and the giver are important - one cannot serve two masters, warns Jesus. Once we give the first place to the Giver, the Eternal giver, the Loving giver, the Wonderful giver, everything else falls in place. Wealth becomes a means, Well-being becomes harmonious living and the World becomes an opportunity for us to create a paradise here and now, as we live our life in peace and harmony with our brothers and sisters!

Oneness, difference and peace!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Remembering St. Matthew, the Apostle. 

UNITED NATIONS' WORLD DAY OF PEACE

Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13; Matthew 9:9-13

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God the Father and Mother of us all: the basis of the Community that God wants to create of us all. Just contrast this with some madness that is going on today, especially if you are in India... one nation, one language, one public distribution system, all measuring up to one culture and one religion! Are these both the same? 

Certainly and fortunately, No. The former is a celebration of differences in living hospitality while the latter is an attempt to do away with it in an arrogant naivety. Now returning to the Word and reflecting on the reality of the Church, the One people of God... 

Do not ever be scandalised if I dare say, Church is not the be-all and end-all of Christian faith. The Church is only an intermediate arrangement for us to walk the path towards that Unity that Christ has invited us to - the eternal Peace that he promises - a peace not like the one that the world offers, a peace that comes from one heart and one mind, one spirit and one humanity - the peace and unity of the Reign of God! 

The Apostles form the pillars to this, as they were the one's who lived close to the principle originator of this Reign. If only we have the readiness and the docility that Matthew had, 'to rise and follow' when God calls, into the vicissitudes of life, fixing our gaze on the Lord who leads, we will all be like the apostles, torchbearers of the Reign of God. 

Peace be with you! 

Can God become a means?

WORD 2day: Friday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 20, 2019: 1 Timothy 6: 2-12; Luke 8: 1-3

Paul writes in a time when servants (slaves) were common in an affluent household. A practice seemed to have spread that the masters of the household and the slaves together accepted Christ as their saviour and their relationship turned as brothers and sisters in Christ, rather than masters and slaves! The risk within this phenomenon was that some merely as a means to do away with their status as 'slaves', decided to be baptised! It was using God as means to win other ends. That was unacceptable to Paul! 

Reducing God to means of attaining other ends is no Christ-like attitude. Today, the world is not bereft of this risk - of making "Godliness a means of gain" (1 Tim 6:5). At times our devotions too seem to fall under this category... pleasing God, bribing God, enticing God, seeking God because you wish to have something, doing things that are good just so that God would give you the good you wish - all these are USING God - Can God be reduced to a means! Is God not the true end and the ultimate end of all!

Look instead to the first Christians who provided for God's work "out of their means" (Lk 8:3), money or wealth, power or position, pleasures or possessions - everything has to be at the service of the glory of God! This is possible only for those who are ready to "fight the good fight of faith" (1Tim 6:12). Yes, it is always a fight, against the popular sense of making God into an vending machine! God can never be made into a means!

Love for God, and for God in others!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 24th week in Ordinary time 

September 19, 2019: 1 Timothy 4: 12-16; Luke 7: 36-50

What matters most is the love one has, for God and for God in others! 

The world looks for reasons to despise - be it that one is small or young, or that one is evil or despicable, or that one belongs to a category or the other! Before God, and before persons of God, these make absolutely no difference. What matters most before God, is the love that one has for God and for those around. 

Love brings about forgiveness, because true love is a commitment. Love for God is in practical terms a commitment to remain with God and never to stray. When that commitment, or love resides in one's heart - one would 'pay attention to oneself and to one's teachings' and thus 'save oneself and save the hearers' (cf. 1 Tim 4:16). 

Do not say that you are young, the Lord warned Jeremiah! The warning is to all of us, because each of us is anointed by the hands of God at our baptism and we participate in the Royal priesthood of Christ, the high priest. At times, in the disguise of humility, a blatant escapism tries to slip into our lives - after all I am only human, after all I am just beginning, after all I am young and inexperienced, after all this is only my first time... how many excuses - which we know so well, are excuses and not real reasons!

What matters most amidst all these circumstances and predicaments, is how much do I love God, and how much do I love God who resides in others! Yes, it's not if we are small or if we are sinners - what matters most is the love that I have in my heart for God - a true love, a true and total commitment!

Conformity... Compromise... my choice?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 18, 2019: 1 Timothy 3:14-16; Luke 7: 31-35

Conformity and Compromise seem to be the most acceptable modes of social living in today's context. 

What if someone refuses to conform - thank one's fortunes if he or she is a success; if the person bungles, he or she is termed - 'weird', 'good-for-nothing', 'worthless', 'abnormal', 'hard headed', 'stubborn' or so on. The standard criterion for judging anything and everything has become 'success' and nothing else - so the best bet is to conform to the crowd of so-called winners!

Living by values and standing up for truth, keeping your identity alive as a child of God, these seem today to be out-of-fashion slogans. But let us be clear: the only way to belong to the "household of God" (1 Tim 3:15) is by our way of living! In spite of the pressurising crowd, the preposterous situations or the prejudiced society, one is called to remain a disciple of Christ, in word, deed and thought. It is a vocation 24/7; it is a call every moment of the day and every day of the year! 

Both options are open to us: the easier option to conform to the world - dancing to its tunes or playing to its moves, or the tougher call to 'put on the mind of Christ' (Phil 2:5). The choice is mine! What I choose, I become - to conform, to compromise or to stand up, stand erect and stand with the Lord? 

Paul said it plainly in his letter, "do not conform to this world, but be transformed in Christ, and discern the will of God" (cf. Rom 12:2).

Integrity - a truly 'Christ'ian quality

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 17, 2019: 1 Timothy 3: 1-13; Luke 7: 11-17

The Word today summons every person of a Christian community to recognise and reassess the place and the importance of the quality of Integrity, in our life and community today. More than any quality of  efficiency or intelligence, it is personal integrity that St. Paul outlines as the quality needed utmost for anyone who wants to serve a Christian Community. 

Jesus, most obviously, is the model presented to us by the Gospel, in this all-important virtue of integrity. Not merely a sermon or a discourse, but we see Jesus moved with compassion for the helpless widow on the streets of Nain. 

The Responsorial Psalm drives home to us the crux of the message today: "He who walks in the way of integrity shall be in my service" (Ps 101:6). The psalm offers us two other terms to understand the quality of integrity: blameless heart and the way of perfection. Yes, it is not about staying away from cutting a bad figure before others, nor about being extra careful with our behaviour in public or in those fora which could create a scandal! It is about being good, choosing good, and doing good, regardless of a public opinion or acknowledgement.

The less the disparity between our talk and our walk, the more is our Integrity! Integrity, in fact, is the internal peace that leads to Universal Peace! It is what we choose to be, in order that we create around us what we want the world to be. 

The one word that can give peace

WORD 2day: Monday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 16, 2019: 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 7: 1-10

In these days when the world is constantly threatened by international stand-offs, territorial scramblings, intra-national factional misgivings, the readings today have a wonderful message - to pray for all, for the sake of peace! 

It is not a convenience-seeking measure but a conviction that is born out of a solid teaching that Jesus wanted to impart to the world - We are all sons and daughters of One, loving, caring God who is madly in love with us. Jesus lived that teaching by reaching out to the Roman Centurion and in fact pointing out in him the excellence of faith. 

The present Holy Father, Pope Francis has proved more than few times, a true disciple of Christ, calling the whole world, all persons of good will to unite in prayer, as does the first reading today. It is important for the world to know that the one word that can heal everyone, the one word that can give peace to the whole world, the one word that can set everything right is with God! 

The process has to begin with us... those who hear that Word, to believe in it and entrust ourselves to living it. 'Say but one word O Lord, the world shall be healed and we shall have peace!'

LET YOURSELF BE FOUND

The Lord is in search of you

September 15, 2019: 24th Sunday in Ordinary time

Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-32

Have you heard of that anecdote narrated of a girl who strayed into a thick forest and could not get back before it got really dark? She was there, terrified with the dark that surrounded her and the distant noises that frightened her. All that she could was hide herself behind a bush, covering herself with the dark, while her father began to desperately go in search of her! He was combing the forest inch by inch determined to find his child and at a certain point, there he stood as the beam of light from his torch rested on a pair of bewildered eyes: it was his daughter, still frightened but unable to see her dad because the light blinded her now, equally as the darkness until then did. The father was relieved and gave a sign of relief and joy, and cried her name out! As soon as the child heard her father's voice, she shouted in joy, "Daddy! I found you!"

What a lovely picture we are presented with in the Word today - the Lord who comes in search of us! The Lord is in search of us, but are we ready to let ourselves be found by the Lord? That is the crucial question raised to us today.

BEWARE - The First Reading warns us:

The World and our life today is filled with things, events, ideals and values that can distract us and get us lost! It is first the darkness that surrounds us. Enmity, violence, intolerance, competition, jealousy, avarice and apathy is spread more and more today, knowingly most of the times and unwittingly sometimes. People give into the pressure of the crowd and end up harping on the same negativity that they wish to fight. We need to stay clear of the negativity of the inhuman forces, the agents of hatred wish to perpetrate. Not just darkness, but sometimes what we consider light can blind us to God - self-righteousness, pride, sense of accomplishment and superiority, the tendency to look at our familiarity with God as a reason to condemn people or look down on them - these can keep us from truly encountering God... the Lord will be right there beside us and we will not realise it in our folly. 

REALISE IT - The Second Reading instructs us:

Become aware of it, when you are lost! St. Paul realised how lost he was! It is a grace to "come to our senses", just as the lost son came to his senses in the parable (Luke 15:17), that Jesus narrates today. When we do not realise that we are lost, like that little girl we spoke of, we would be imagining that we are in search of God - while actually the Lord is in search of us, looking for us amidst the darkness that we have created all around us, reaching out to us through the maze that we have thrown ourselves into. God is looking for us and the moment we realise we are lost, we would call out to God and the Lord shall cry our name out. Remember that incident when God called out "Adam", the first couple were hiding behind a bush! Remember that moment when God called out "Cain", he tried hiding himself behind his connivance. The sacrament of Reconciliation is all about our realisation, our coming to senses... it is admitting with all our sincere heart, that we have gone astray, we have lost our way, we are willing to be found and taken back to God. 

THE LORD WHO IS IN SEARCH OF US - The Gospel presents to us:

Oh, what a wonderful experience, to see the Lord who comes in search of us. We better not be ashamed or we will shy away and we better not be afraid or we will hide ourselves from that merciful gaze. A God who is on a constant look out; the Lord who is in search of us; the Lord who rejoices on our return - that is the image that Jesus wants us to have! Yes, the Lord is in search of us. The secret is that the Lord cannot find us, unless we let ourselves be found! 

And therefore, we pray:

Oh Lord, my God,

Grant that I may stick to the path you have shown;

Enlighten my mind to single out the enticements and entrapments 

that get me lost to your life-giving presence;

Infuse my heart with the humility to see the truth and accept it

specially when I find myself far from it;

Take my hand and lead me gently back to you,

however undeserving you find me to be; 

for I know you love me without bounds, 

you accept me without conditions, and 

you watch over me without denying me my freedom!

Thank you Lord, 

never let me wander too far away from you; and

help me always to let myself be found by you...
like the coin on the house floor, 
the sheep in the wilderness, 
and the son who came to himself...
Help me Lord, 
that when you come in search of me, 
TO LET MYSELF BE FOUND.

Amen.