Needed traits to Receive the Lord #2: READINESS

THE WORD IN ADVENT - 23rd December 

Malacchi 3:1-4,23-24; Luke 1: 57-66

Let us continue with the necessary traits to receive the Lord who comes to visit us...the second trait necessary is, Readiness. 

Readiness does not mean a mere passive waiting... it is an active preparation, without which one would miss the moment of truth.  The preparation would consist, first of all,  of knowing. It's the message we reflected this Sunday... Knowing and understanding, they form the first level of preparedness. 

Being prepared may not be enough. Speaking to a group of graduating students, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, made an enlightening statement, God bless him. He said, it is not enough to be prepared, but one needs to be ready. 

The coming of the Lord is a moment of truth for us, and we have to be ready - which is, to be prepared in heart and mind, of course. But along with that, to be ready in spirit and in action. To know and to live by what one knows, to believe and to live by what one believes - that is being ready! 

The first reading calls us to exactly to this - to be well disposed, to be refined as silver is refined in the furnace, to make our life worthy of the sacred mysteries we are about to celebrate. It is like the period of pain that Elisabeth and the time of muteness that Zachariah had to go through. The sacrament of Confession is a wonderful moment of refinement, a great sign of our READINESS to receive the Lord, this Christmas!

Have you made your confession yet? 

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - DAY 7: O King of Nations!

22nd December: O King of Nations

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay.

Based on Isaiah 9:6, 2:4 and 28:16, the King of the nations is a yearning of the people of Israel. They wanted Yahweh to be their king always, even when they had a human king ruling them. That is why they did not give in to the Emperor worship that was so widespread in the dominant cultures of their times. God is the king, forever and over all!

The Symbol is the crown, and some times even the sceptre, that signifies the central place that God has in our personal and universal history; and the authority that rests solely with God. Remember the feast we celebrate just before beginning the advent, that is on the last Sunday of the Ordinary time - that is the adaptation of the same theology of Israel, into the Christian way of life.

Today power is misused for manipulation and arriving at hidden agenda; power which is given to certain persons for the sake of furthering the care of humanity is used to destroy the very humanity. Who is to be blamed? Those who manipulate it? Yes, of course. But what about those who let them do it? those who keep silent when it is done? If it is true that we have accepted God as our King, Christ as our King, it means we have accepted Truth, Justice, Love and Peace. Anything that, or anyone who goes against these, just cannot be sided with - it would be a wrong allegiance, a slavery!

The prayer is to save the human kind, from slaveries of sin and death to the freedom of the children of God, for that is what we are, children created in the image and likeness of God. It is to grow in this identity and dignity that the coming of the Lord invites us.

BEHOLD THE PROMISES OF THE LORD

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 22, 2019: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 7: 10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1: 18-24

Promises, prophecies and prodigies fill the history of our Christian faith. Promises are from the Lord, prophecies are from persons of God and prodigies are for all of us to see, provided we are ready to see it. One thing is God revealing Godself, it is entirely another thing that we receive it! We are at the threshold of the feast for which we have been preparing for the past three weeks, and today we are in fourth Sunday of Advent, just two days away from the event - but are we ready to Behold the Lord, are we disposed to behold the promises of the Lord? This is the question that the Word wants us to raise within ourselves. 

The drama of the God-Human interplay begins with a promise from the Lord: let us consider that promise from the Old Testament - when the humankind fails miserably and disobeys God, God instead of disowning the humankind, chides the evil one who led God's children away, something which the prince of lies continues to do even today. God does not only just chide the evil one but challenges to save the humankind to eternal life - against the wish of the evilone to lead them to eternal damnation. The challenge was in the form of a promise: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offsping and hers! That was a promise which amounted to say to us: I shall never leave you at the mercies of the evil one! But has the human kind always lived up to it? In other words, has the human kind always beheld that promise?

The Lord renews that promise once again as we read in the first reading today, the propehcy of Isaiah: The Lord himself will give you a sign; the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son, whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means 'God-is-with-us'. The woman, the maiden, the girl of Nazareth -is with child and in two days we shall celebrate the event when she gave birth to that child. And then there were so many prodigies, did they really behold it? The promises were given, they were prophesied about, and prodigies brought those promises to life - but they ignored it, they rejected it... let us say, WE rejected it, we ignored it, we failed to behold it. 

Today the promises are being fulfilled, revealed with prodigies all around, are we ready to behold it? The capacity to behold the promises of the Lord - that is what Christmas is all about. We are about enter into the festivities, but hold on, let us have a look at ourselves, our dispositions: are we ready to behold the Lord? Have we developed the capacity to behold the promises of the Lord. That capacity consists of three levels and this is what the Word instructs today about.

The first level is the level of knowing! To know first of all that we have great promises from the Lord and secondly to know what they are! One of the promises that God has never ceased to give is that of God's never failing presence! I am with you until the end of times - this was Jesus the Christ. But that is only a reflection of what God the Father had promised the people of Israel - through Abraham, through Moses, through Joshua, through Jeremiah... and finally through God's own Son who would be coming soon among us, as God made human, Word made flesh! The promise - if only we truly know them and understand them! This is what St. Paul reminds us, writing to the Romans today - to know and to understand the promises of the Lord and those of Christ.

The second level is the level of believing! To know the promises is one thing, to believe in them is another. At times we know God has promised to be with us, but whether we believe in it all the time, is a serious question. We think God is up there and distant from us at times, when we go through things in our life with our own calculations and hidden agenda, with external justifications and completely different internal motivations, with appearances that totally deceive others from what truly goes on in the depths of our hearts - does not God know it? Whose patience are we trying to put to test, asks Isaiah in the first reading. God knows the innermost thoughts of our minds - do we really believe in the promises of the Lord? Do we believe that God is faithful and God will never fail in keeping up to God's promises? If not, how will we behold them at all?

The third level is the level of experiencing! To know the promises and to believe in them actually means, experiencing them in our daily life, in every day chores, in every person we meet, in events that happen around us, in miracles that surround us, in wonders that keep happening and in the signs and splendours that mark the history that we are living and creating everyday. At times we are lost in seeing what the powerful decide that we see, we are too occupied in sensing what those who manipulate us want us to sense, we are too busy perceiving things from the perspective of those who want to lead us astray or at least to their own perspective. We consider some strangers, because we are taught to consider that way. We consider some as low, because we are conditioned to think we are higher. We consider some as superior because we are brought up to look down on ourselves...we fail to truly experience the reality, the real beauty in God's creation - with all its diversities, with all its varieties, and with all its peculiarities. How can we them see the richness of the revelation of God? God reveals Godself on a daily basis, how can we really see it if we are not disposed to behold it? Look at Joseph in the Gospel today: he was able to look at Mary with compassion and accept her. Look at Mary: she was able to accept that strange call, trusting in the presence of God with her. Look at the saintly couple, Mary and Joseph: they were able to carry on with every thing that was happening between them, because they trusted in the promises of the Lord. They lived it!

Today, let us take it upon ourselves to get to know the promises that God wishes to give each of us. Let us believe that God would always be faithful to God's promises. Let us prepare ourselves to experience those promised in our daily life, because let us remember, Miracles abound for those who are prepared to see them around!

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - DAY 6: O Rising dawn!

21st December: O Rising dawn

O Morning Star,
Splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Based on Isaiah 9:2 and Isaiah 60:1-2, the title in Latin O Oriens, actually means literally O Rising Sun or Dawn, but for poetic sense translated as Morning Star, refers to the power of God's light to lead us from ignorance to knowledge and from mere knowledge to enlightenment. 

The Symbol is the Rising Sun, which dispels the darkness of the night and wakes the light of the morning, inviting all to life and activity. The coming of the Lord for us is a wake up call, an invitation to live as people of the light and not of darkness!

Today we see people disputing with each other, clamouring to be right in contrast to another, remain divided among themselves because of their allegiance to someone or some ideology - are they really certain where lies the real truth? Even within the Church today we see people polarising themselves, unnecessarily for the sake of some ideologies and philosophies - Apostle Paul warned us long back - do not be deceived by all these ideologies and philosophies, cling on to Christ and Christ alone is the enlightenment of God, who can clarify the real truths of our life.

The prayer is for enlightenment, that in these times of confusion and crisis, confounding choices and staggering philosophies, we might remain always in the light of faith, that not only helps us see the Lord, but see with the eyes of the Lord (Lumen Fidei).

Needed Traits to Receive the Lord #1: EAGERNESS

THE WORD IN ADVENT: 21st December

Song of Songs 2:8-14; Luke 1:39-45

Starting today the Word shall point out to us three needed traits to receive the Lord... Is it not for that we have been preparing ourselves? 

Looking forward to meet the love of your life - that is the kind of disposition required if we really want to behold the coming of the Lord. The Song of Songs expresses the longing that one has for the beloved. It's like that innocent sweet child who asked her father at the end of her busy day of birthday celebrations, "Daddy, when will my birthday come again?" 

Imagine you are sitting with a gift box well wrapped... How eager you would feel to open and see what waits inside... How many ways you would try to guess what is there - checking the weight, seeing if it moves, listening to the noise when you shake... All these are ways of atuning yourself to the gift, isn't it? 

It is one thing to know that the Lord would come; it is entirely another thing to go out and meet the Lord. To receive the Lord would mean to be eager to observe every way that the Lord chooses to encounter us, not missing out even on the smallest of the signs.

That eagerness, that longing, that yearning like the parched land for water, like the deer for the running streams, like the drowning person for a breath above the waters... that is the requirement if we really want to encounter the Lord who visits us this Christmas!

It would be important to ask overselves today, how eager are we to encounter the Lord in our daily expediences? 

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - DAY 5: O Key of David!

20th December: O Key of David

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut;

you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Based on  Isaiah 22:22, Isaiah 9:7 and Isaiah 42:7, the reference is to the sovereignty of God's Reign. That the throne shall have no end is a Messianic prophecy that, God will be established the Lord of history! Liberation of the oppressed and the fullness of life of all, is the sign of the Reign.

The symbol is the key to signify the authority that the Lord has, in creating, changing and structuring the whole history. It also signifies the perfect control that God has over time and space, life and being, but all these understood not in terms of domination but a love that creates and sustains.

Evil is real! Let us not deceive ourselves thinking it is imaginary, no it is real and the evil one is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. This is not a matter to be worried about, as long as we commit ourselves to the One key, which alone can open or close time, space or history - the Lord! Liberation, we think has to come from afar. But it is already given to us by the Lord, we just need to choose it! When we choose the key to liberation, we choose liberation!

The prayer is for liberation... to be led towards fullness of life that is the experience of the Reign on earth. It is also a commitment to work towards, to contribute one's might and mite, to choose with all our heart and our strength, the Lord, the key to fullness, towards establishing the Reign here and now!

Keys to the Kingdom: Behold God as God

THE WORD IN ADVENT - December 20

Isaiah 7: 10-14; Luke 1: 26-38

When troubles surround or challenges abound, we try to manage our lives with our own strength or seeking those who can give a solution, notwithstanding the fact that they themselves are persons with similar problems and puzzles. This is what it means by blind leading the blind... and there are scores and scores who manipulate this to their advantage.

Fortune predictions, numerical calculations, geographical adjustments, material omens, magical powers, supernatural promises... how many substitutes we run to! The outcome - those substitutes get to exist, grow stronger, become richer and more and more adept at exploiting. How many examples we see in our world today!

When finally nothing else works, we turn to the Lord, instead of right from the beginning surrendering ourselves to the Lord almighty who alone has the ultimate power! God remains a stand by, when nothing else works! Ahaz represents that world which reduces the Lord God to our thinking, our calculations and our predictions! 

It is against this background that Mary stands out, a model for silent acceptance of the marvels of God which are beyond any of our imagination, even at the most trying moment of our lives. She surrendered right from the first instant - did not wait for more clarity and did not look for back-ups and other alternatives! That was an instant and total surrender because, she saw as God, she encountered God as God, not as some means to well being or an instrument to goodness!

The readings today warn us against reducing God to some magical powers or an ATM of grace... no, God is God - almighty, all powerful, all-knowing... and above all, all Love! Let us behold God as God and enjoy the splendour and wonder of God's presence.

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - DAY 4: O Root of Jesse!

19th December: O Root of Jesse

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; 

before you kings will shut their mouths,

to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Based on  Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 11:10, the title Root of Jesse, refers to the promise of the Lord to raise the Messiah from the line of David (the son of Jesse). It is a promise of deliverance that the Lord gives the people of Israel, and to everyone who believes in the Lord. 

The Symbol is that of the shoot flowering... signalling the hope that the Lord offers in times when everything seems dark and dead. Look at the exodus event, the miracles in the desert, the water from the rock, the guidance by day and night - everyone of these was a sign of God's promises being fulfilled. The final fulfillment and the pinnacle of everything was - Incarnation, that which we are preparing to celebrate.

Promises of the Lord will never fail... it may look like it, but things will change. There may be enemies plotting around, there may be situations that go out of control and there may be evil all around me - I will give up and compromise when I think there is no hope. But when here is hope, when I stand on the promises of the Lord,  I will never give up!

The prayer today is to reinforce that HOPE...that we may always look forward to the deliverance that the Lord can offer! Note that the readings of the liturgy too relate to the same sense of hope in the Lord who accomplishes marvels for us! Never let anyone rob you of your hope, reminds our Holy Father. 

Keys to the Kingdom: To hope without limits

THE WORD IN ADVENT - December 19 

Judges 13: 2-7, 24-25; Luke 1: 5-25  

Two women, considered and categorised as 'barren', miraculously bear their firstborns, dedicate them to the Lord! The two newborns even before they were conceived were meant to be God's messengers! Let us say we have clear cut examples of - 'I chose you before you were born, from your mother's womb, when you were being formed in there!'

What the world considers impossible, the Lord proves possible; what the world cannot even think of, the Lord has planned from eternity and executes in God's own time. The coming of the Lord towards which we are preparing ourselves was punctuated with such events - virgin conceived, name pre-announced, infant saved...how many events we shall be recalling - all of them hope inspiring! The Reign too is a similar perspective of life: that of hope without limits.

When moments seem troublesome and weary, dark and dreary, confusing and out of control... we tend to give up hope, become desperate and fall into the danger of hopelessness! With the sense of desperation, one can miss the most obvious and grand signs of the magnificence of God that appears on a daily basis! 

The key that is offered today is a direct warning against hopelessness or desperation. it is to hope without limits, in the greatness of the Lord. It is Hope that will make the Reign present for a battered world. 

CHRISTMAS NOVENA - DAY 3: O Adonai!

18th December: O Adonai...

O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel

who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Based on Isaiah 11:45 and Isaiah 33:22, the title Adonai, refers to the Lordship of Yahweh, that the people of Israel always stressed on. From a generic universal history that yesterday's "Wisdom" reminded us of, today's "Adonai" comes down to the particular experience of Exodus, the watershed of the Spirituality of the people of Israel.

The Symbols are burning bush, to remind the experience when Moses surrendered to Yahweh and the stone tablets of the commandments, the symbol of Israel's surrender to Yahweh. What is stressed is the Lordship of Yahweh, which is the key to the God-experience of the Israel and our faith-experience today.

The Lord of Israel, our God is Supreme over all beings of the earth or the heavens, the Lord of history and the Lord of the future. This is nothing that God would insist on holding on to, because God stands to gain nothing whether we accept or reject God's losrdship; it is we who stand to gain or lose! When we accept the Lordship of the Creator, we find meaning, significance and purpose in everything that happens in our life; when we do not surrender, every bit of what happens can become a concern and a cause for sadness and dissatisfaction. Hence the call is to Surrender, to the lordship of the Lord.

The prayer today is that of a SURRENDER into the redeeming power of God, to be led by the Lord's hands always - from darkness to light, from folly to wisdom, from death to life!