THE LIGHT OF FAITH

Be illumined! Illumine!

February 9, 2020: 5th Sunday in Ordinary time

Isaiah 58: 7-10; 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5; Matthew 5: 13-16

"The Light of Faith: this is how the Church's tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus": so begins the encyclical Lumen Fidei, issued by Pope Francis in 2014. Light is an image very often presented in relation to faith, the faithful and the life of a faithful. It is an explicit call by the Lord right from the Old Testament times that the people of God have to be light to the nations (Is 42:6). With Christ's call today to be light of the world, it becomes an inevitable criterion to be identified as Christ's disciple or not!

Faith as Light: The first reading reminds us of a Zen story that we would have heard, of the Master who asked his disciples: When do you think it is dawn? The disciples attempted various responses, like - when we see the difference between a tree and a pillar; when we can identify a black thread from a white, and so on. The Master, discontent with everything, finally said: it is dawn, when you look into the eyes of the one next to you and see your brother or your sister! 

The first reading  tells us exactly that... when you accept the gift of faith from the Lord, your eyes are opened that you can see into the eyes of those around you and see your brothers and sisters; in their suffering and in their pains, you can feel your heart weeping and your eyes welling. We are reflecting today on the theme of LIGHT... the light that illumines us, the light that makes us see the real meaning of life and the true sense of being human. What can do that task better than our faith - Faith, is the light that illumines us, a light that directs our journey of life, a light that opens our minds to see clear and live upright. It is the Light we are offered by the Lord, as a gift!  

The Faithful as Light: Once we accept that gift, the gift of faith from the Lord, we as faithful, we become the Light! Receiving the light, we become the Light. The Lord sets us as the light to the nations, the light to the world, the light on the lamp stand, the city on the hilltop! Our faith does not rest on human wisdom, or logical reason, or scientific thinking, or systematic and mind blowing theologies! Our faith is primarily founded on the power of God, reminds St. Paul in the second reading today. 

Illumined by the Light, we become the light! Jesus declared, "I am the light of the World" (Jn 8:12); but did not stop with that. He challenges us today in the Gospel, "You are the light of the World." Every person of faith is called to be a light that is set on the lamp stand, to spread the light to the entire house, to illumine those around him or her. But it is important that we remember always that the source of our light, is the Light which illumines us all, the Light eternal of which we are rays, the eternal fire of which we are sparks.

The life of the faithful as Light: Being the light...what could that mean? It involves two important elements: One, everyone sees you; and two, one is able to see because of you! Theologians and Pastoral thinkers always raise a pertinent question, what would be the most apt mode today, of proclaiming the Good News to those who have not heard it. The answer is as simple as it is tough: "by living my everyday life!" One may wonder, but where is the proclamation here - actually, it is in the very living! 

Our life cannot have two shades - personal and public, sacred and profane, spiritual and secular... If I am a Christian - I should be seen! That is the first dimension of being light - my life has to be lived in its integrity. When the light can be seen, then one can see, because of the light. When my life can be seen by the other as an open book, the other can draw an inspiration to live by, and that is proclamation; that is evangelisation; that is illumining! It is through my life, my words, my actions and everyday choices that I become a light to the other; "if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness!" and thus one will become the light in darkness to the upright.

Let us keep this light burning in our hearts whole day today, and our everyday. To evaluate our daily life and see, if we really possess the Light of Faith, if we really live our life in a manner as to become light to those around me! Let the Eternal Light of Lord fill our hearts to be illumined and to illumine!

The Strange Choices

WORD 2day: Saturday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 8, 2020: 1 Kings 3: 4-13; Mark 6: 30-34

The choices we make are based on the priorities we hold. We are aware of so many psychological tests based on the types of choices a person makes, leading to the reasons and applications of the same into an analysis. That is only an indication to say, there is more than what meets the eye, in a choice that a person makes. There are subconscious elements that determine a choice in any given concrete situation - that is where the priorities truly abide.

Today in the Word,  we have some strange choices: Solomon who chooses a less attractive but more divine choice; Jesus who makes a tiring tough choice of being with people; and the apostles who had just returned from hectic outing but glad to be with Jesus once again...all strange choices given the circumstances. But every one of those choice had an underlying grace! 

Solomon's choice was applauded by the Lord because the priority was the people of God, and not his own glory or dominance. Jesus' choice is so elevating because, he chooses to cater to the people of God, not his own personal comfort or rest. The choice of the apostles to be with their Master, was a choice so ideal because they did not mind their state of exhaustion. 

These choices would be considered inopportune by a world which looks at unwinding as so important, personal space as sacred, total self-giving as a burn out and other-orientedness as stupidity! For those who are centered on God, God's purposes and God's people, these choices need not be strange at all. When we are united with the Lord, in heart and mind, our choices will be considered strange, don't be alarmed, we do have company!

A life for God

WORD 2day: Friday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 7, 2020: Ecclesiasticus 47:2-13; Mark 6: 14-29

Today we read the glories of David from the Philosopher... glory that came directly from the fact that his was a life lived for God and totally for God. All his mistakes and blunders were overlooked because of his overwhelming dedication to God and God's purposes. David had one identity over and above everything else, that he was a beloved son of God and that did the magic.

The Gospel reminds us of another man with a very strong identity, that he was a man of God, a messenger of God, a forerunner to the Saviour. John the Baptist, or for that matter any martyr we could think of, what really matters is not so much the fact that they died for Christ as the fact that they lived for Christ!  They lived so much for God that dying did not matter to them. 

For me to live is Christ and to die is gain, said Paul. These lives are purest translations of that principle that Paul expounds. What matters today for me, is not whether I am ready to die for Christ, well, in its time I might need to face that too. But more important is to respond to the question, whether I am ready to live for Christ, to live for God, to live for God's purposes! Let us sharpen our purpose in life, on a daily basis, that we may live every moment a life that is lived for God

The Handing Over

WORD 2day: Thursday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 6, 2020: 1 Kings 2:1-4,10-12; Mark 6:7-13

David hands it over to Solomon;  Jesus hands it over to his apostles;  the Apostles have handed it over to us! We have to take it forward! a very clear message from the Word today - run your part of the race!

While Jesus gives a long prescription of how to take it forward,  David sums it all up or the Lord sums it all up to David in a phrase: “If your sons are careful how they behave, and walk loyally before me with all their heart and soul"... that's the key! care of behaviour, loyalty in life and a life lived with all one's heart and soul before the Lord.

Persons like the martyrs Paul Miki and companions others (incidentally there was an Indian in the group - Gonsalo Garcia, the first Indian to be proclaimed a martyr-saint), show us by their example not only what it means to run the race that has been handed over to us, but also what it would be at the end of it all... the crown of success could very well be a crown of thorns! But should that disturb us, keeping in mind the ultimate crown of love that awaits us?

What I need to remember today is this: the key that the first reading gives: my call binds me in my conscience not merely in my external behaviour. Living for God is proclaiming God; Living with all my heart and my soul before the Lord is the surest form of proclamation, the concrete form of running the race. Living for God's Reign is establishing God's Reign here and now!

Misleading Mentalities

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 5, 2020: 2 Samuel 24:2,8-17; Mk 6: 1-6

I come in the name of the Lord -those were David's words before the philistine giant, when he began his adventure with the Lord. Today we see him counting his strength. He seems to be taking stock of what and how much he could achieve, as if all that he had achieved till then were purely because of his own capabilities! True to his nature, he soon realises his mistake and regrets.

The people who encountered Jesus could not but be amazed... but those who have always seen Jesus growing amidst them refused to be amazed in spite of the great things that happened. They did not believe in their own people, one among them, being so blessed. Truth had to be told by someone who came from elsewhere! They suspected their own capabilities.

Both these are misleading mentalities: the Lord has blessed us with qualities and capabilities that is for the good of all and we need to put them to use... mindful always of the fact that these came from the Lord and it is for the Lord's purposes they have to be used. 

As we, these days, hear about all the threat of Coronavirus all over the world and reflect on the pestilence that David and his people were struck by, what we need to keep in mind and learn is, the irreparable damage we do when we exaggerate our capabilities, without acknowledging the all-powerful Presence that keeps guiding us and instructing us. 

Humanity has to learn today the right balance of being filled with awe and gratitude for what we have received and, at the same time, using it to the full without being bogged down by discouraging and disparaging circumstances that may surround. Let us stay away from the misleading mentalities that we find in the Word today and grow more and more mindful of the Lord who is present amidst us.

The 'strange' people of God

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 4, 2020: 2 Samuel 18: 9-10,14,24-25,30-19:3; Mark 5: 21-43 

Sometimes we might appear 'strange'. David does, in today's first reading! To those with David, it seemed well deserved that Absalom met with such an end for all that he had done to David; but for David, it was unbearable; he cries inconsolably. He appears strange for the people who wanted to celebrate the victory. 

Jesus looks strange too, when he asks who is that who touched him, when there was a whole multitude that was crushing him! He appears strange when he tells those people at Jairus' house, 'the child is sleeping.' In fact, the disciple expressed their surprise and the people ridiculed him. 

There was an element there that the others did not see, which made it natural for Jesus (and David) to act the way he (or they) did but, for the people it was strange. That element was, the capacity to see everything from the eyes of God and feel everything from the perspective of God! 

When David looked at it from the perspective of God, it was his loving child who was dead! When Jesus felt the touch from the perspective of God, it was a touch of intense prayer and when He saw the child on the death bed, it was God's glory yet to be revealed. Naturally from others' perspective, these appeared strange, not because they were strange, but for the people who looked on the perspective was strange. 

When we look at our own successes, failures, difficulties, trials, temptations and struggles from the eyes of God - they will have completely different meanings - 'strange' for others, 'miracles' for ourselves! That is the way it has to be. In a world that is obsessed with personal success and possessions and proofs of domination, in our humble and genuine love for each other, let us not hesitate to appear strange, or sound strange...for that is the way we would witness to this world, as truly 'strange' people of God!

The curse of compromise!

WORD 2day: Monday, 4th week in Ordinary time

February 3, 2020: 2 Samuel 15:13-14,30,16:5-13; Mk 5:1-20

The society today has many issues to sort but if there is something that seems to be having apparently no solution, it is the curse of compromises. It has no solution because one does not see it as a problem, and at times we find unlimited justification for such compromises. We learn to live with any thing, for that matter, within a very short span of time.

Just because Saul was a Benjaminite,  today we see a man cursing David on Saul's account forgetting and justifying all that Saul did against David. How many compromises are made just because someone is on my side,  known to me or related to me! Not that David was bereft of any of his own stupidities. Just because you have been chosen for something special doesn't make you special; it all depends on how firm and categorical you are on your choice of what is good, right and just.

The people in the Gospel were ready to live with the demoniac and the troubles he created. They were putting up with him for months and years, but they could not put up with Jesus even a day - they send him away from their countryside right away. Simply because, they didn't want too much of disturbance in their cosy lives. They ask Jesus to leave their neighbourhood because Jesus was intent on transforming everything and making them new. They were more for compromises than for true life giving choices.

The world has begun to put up with anything. Persons compromise on everything for certain gains and calculations. Would Jesus like it, if we his disciples had that way of life? It is important to ask myself today, would I give up on Jesus owing to this curse of compromise?

COMES, BECOMES & CHALLENGES TO BECOME

The Memory, Meaning and Mission

February 2, 2020: The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2: 14-18; Luke 2: 22-40

We have been prepared during the last week towards the celebration today! The reflections on David's dedication to the Lord, the fall of Saul and the eventual fall of David...all these communicated to us the nature of our vocation as human persons: that we are called to belong to the Lord. They also brought out to us the weakness with which we have to constantly struggle in order to be faithful to this call. And finally, the feast today assures that we are not alone in this struggle, the Lord lives with us, all along.

THE MEMORY: The memory that we celebrate today is that of the Lord who comes, who comes into His temple! A beautiful moment so picturesquely presented by Luke. The expectations, the entry, the enchantment and the extravaganza that was witnessed in the Temple as Mary and Joseph bring the child into the temple premises. We celebrate this memory, the memory of the Lord coming to us, the Lord of the world entering our world. It is always so important to keep in mind that moment, those moments special when the Lord in some way encountered us - through a word that we heard, or a person we met, or a event that shook us, or an experience that all of a sudden called our attention. That moment, that memory could be an extraordinary source of meaning and strength.

THE MEANING: The memory that we celebrate has a specific meaning, that the Lord comes to be like us! The Lord chose to share this world with us in His incarnation and became like us, like us in everything, except sin, says the letter to the Hebrews (4:15). The Lord chose to suffer, the Lord chose to be tempted, the Lord chose to undergo the same struggle as each of us do! We are not alone in our struggles, and we are not at the mercies of an insensitive, arrogant boss type of a God - No, we are in the hands of an empathising God, an understanding Father, an embracing mother, a supporting brother! What else do we need? Why should we fret? Could anything really remove the rug from under our feet? Pluck up courage, stand up to yourself, keep working your way towards goodness and at the summit of it lies our union with God - that is the meaning offered to us. 

THE MISSION: The meaning of this memory, leads us to a deeper understanding of the Mission of the Lord who comes. The Lord comes to be like us, that we may become like Him. When John proclaims in his Gospel, "to those who believed in him, he gave the power to become children of God" (Jn 1:12), he underlined this specific mission of the Messiah - to make us like him! It is a 'power', that the Saviour gives us, to become children of God. And it is a 'becoming', a growth, a continual progress, a non-stop process of maturity, of clarifying our priorities, our values and our choices. The mission is life-long, because our very lives are our mission, not merely what we do at certain points of time. Our life, lived in loving union with the Lord and ever worthy of the Lord's love, and gradually becoming like the One who has called and commissioned us is our primary mission

If we have to become like him we have to first "Let Him enter" when He comes. The responsorial psalm invites us to open the portals of our heart and let the King enter. And when the Lord enters, He enters to purify us...like the fuller who washes the linen white, like the silver smith who burns the silver to purity, like the gush of water that enters to wash away all sediments of impurities, the Lord enters. At times it can be painful to be washed, to be refined, and to be flushed of our naive attachments and egoistic pleasures. But without those, there is no purification or refinement. Speaking of faith, in the Apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis says, "God asks everything of us, yet at the same time he offers everything to us" (n.12). The feast of Presentation reminds us of this dimension of our faith - to offer to the Lord everything of ourselves! 

The Lord becomes like us to challenge us to become like him. Jesus lived like us, but every moment of his life was a declaration to the One who sent him: "Here I come to do your will" (Heb 10:7)... that self submission to God begins in the event that we celebrate today. 

Let us pray for the Christian Parents that they, like the Holy Family, may offer themselves and their family into the hands of God, who has called them into loving existence. Let us pray for the Religious who have offered themselves to the Lord, that their consecration might ever be uncompromising. 

Let us pray for each of us, that we may welcome the Lord who comes to us, who becomes like us, that we may learn to become like Him! 

The Storm and the Calm

WORD 2day: Saturday, 3rd week in Ordinary time

February 1, 2020: 2 Samuel 12: 1-7, 10-17; Mark 4: 35-41

"It is you!" - the famous finger of God against David, is the picture we are left with today by the Word. The Lord loved David, but David slipped into godlessness; however, when God pointed it out to him, like an inamorata clinging back to the beloved after a split, David comes back with remorse and love so tenderly balanced. 

It takes a special grace to recognise and accept it when one is convicted by the Lord. The Lord knows our innermost thoughts and even our motivations, and hence even a choice or action that seems 'good' in the eyes of those around, need not always qualify for the 'acceptable' tag in the eyes of the Lord. But it takes that illumining grace to see, understand and accept the truth.

It is another experience of grace to respond in an appropriate manner to a fault pointed out. Even when David realised he had sinned, he never panicked or never gave into guilt... he felt sorry and bounced back to the love of God, because he knew and he was convinced that the Lord was with him and the Lord loved him above anything else.

The storms may rage all around us, but we can still remain calm if only we realise the Lord is with us and the Lord loves us above all else. When Jesus woke and rebuked the sea and the storm, he did not rebuke only them. He also looked at the disciples and made them realise how foolish and faithless they were. Aren't we sometime like that, if not most of the times?

When the Lord is for us who can be against us? The Storm and the calm go side by side for an authentic Christian! Let us be calm... let us be still and know the Lord.

The Reign and the Ruin - beware both are subtle

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 31, 2020: Celebrating St. John Bosco

2 Samuel 11:1-4,5-10,13-17; Mark 4: 26-34.

Jesus today explains how the Reign of God is subtle in its presence and its growth; it does not happen with a bang but it germinates, sprouts and grows in a manner that no one notices it.  

The danger is, even the enemy is subtle in his ways! The first reading presents how the chosen one falls into the inconspicuous trap set by the enemy. One fall follows the other...one worse than the former! 

The reminder given to us is the necessity to be alert all the time, as the Word of God reminds us very often. To be alert would mean to know what the Lord wants of us at a particular time and being able to choose exactly that. More than that, it means to be careful about the deceiving ways of the evil one, who is intent on winning us over to ruin, not merely by gross blunders but more dangerously by subtle compromises, slight slides instead of mighty falls. However the ruin is certain! 

St. John Bosco, the saint we celebrate today, understood this fact perfectly. That is why he suggested that the way out of sin, is holy joy! To be thoroughly occupied with good things, that you will never have the time to sin - that was his ingenuous suggestion to the young. 'Run, jump and shout, but do not sin,' he said. Let our hearts be so filled with the Lord, that we hardly have time to think of any other. 

The Reign, no doubt, is subtle; unfortunately the ruin too could be subtle. Our dedication to the Lord has to be absolute; let us serve the Lord in holy joy!

[Note: the readings are different where the proper of the feast of St. John Bosco is chosen; Since not everywhere the proper readings of the Saint will chosen, the readings reflected on here are of the day - i.e., Friday, 3rd week in Ordinary time]