Work - the likeness of Divinity within humanity

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May day: Celebrating St. Joseph the Worker

May 1, 2020: Genesis 1:26-2:3; Matthew 13:54-58

May day, for a Christian holds much more than mere glorification of work. This is because of the very nature of God that sanctifies this essential aspect of human existence. The first reading underlines the fact that the work of creation is an essential image of God and goes on to imply that right from the origins, it has formed a characteristic part of humanity, which holds the likeness and image of God.

St. Joseph pictured as a worker, the working hand and the leader of the Holy Family, is not merely an imagination but a practical possibility and the Church today capitalises on this possibility to draw inspiration from a saint who reminds us of this essential element of our human existence and the way to go about it with serenity and simplicity. 

Work is a participation in the Creative initiative of God. Work can never be a slavery; it can never be carried out solely for an external gain or out of external pressure. Work when it is done merely for the material returns, it becomes a commodity and that is where exploitation and alienation begins. Every person has the right to work and the duty to do his or her part in the upkeep of our common home, not in damaging it to ruin. How lovely it would be when every person does what he or she can to make this world a better place..that would be paradise, the garden of Eden, the Reign of God here and now.

Today, let us promise to respect the dignity of labour and look at our opportunity to contribute through work as a personal participation in the image and likeness of God and in God's creative mission.

Drawn by your Daddy!!!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 3rd week in Easter time

April 30, 2020: Acts 8: 26-40; John 6: 44-51

The readings taken together have a wonderful message for us... if we are Christians, it is not by chance; it is by choice... not ours, but the Lord's. You did not choose me, I chose you, says the Lord. The Lord has chosen each of us by name and if only we are aware of it and convinced of it, we shall see an immense difference in the quality of our daily living.

We have come to know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, drawn by God our Father and Mother in heaven! It is the Lord who has willed to draw us to Godself. Our 'yes' at Baptism and a reassertion of it at Confirmation are our response to this initiative of God. The point of discussion is, whether we are faithful to the yes all our life, at every moment of our daily life.

Especially at moments when we see we are surrounded by tests and trials, sickness and death, fear and threats, oppressions and corruption, decadence and exploitation, anxiety and helplessness, boredom and hopelessness,...we are called to remember that we are all drawn by the Almighty, that we are being guided by the Lord who has drawn us all in name of God. Will our lives today manifest that difference, making the world understand the power we possess in our call?

But that difference does not come just in an instant. It is a long journey in itself. The Bread of life and the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant, are the nourishment in this journey. All through the journey the Lord accompanies us and instructs us... if we really listen, we will soon realise how special we are; and how we are drawn by our daddy!

Testimonies of true joy!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 3rd week in Easter time

April 29, 2020: Acts 8:1b-8; John 6: 35-40

There was great joy in the city. In spite of having to desert their hometowns and go into diaspora, the community of believers bring joy wherever they go. Earlier we read, that the apostles where flogged for having preached Christ and when they left, they went with joy because they were able to suffer for Christ. How was it possible for them! It was because, they carried the Risen Lord in their hearts. 

The resurrection experience filled the apostles, the disciples and all the believers with joy, with a joy that could not be replaced by anything else under the sun. The words "Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ" (Rom 8:35) was a concrete life experience of the early Christians. The source of this experience is the total and loving self giving of the Lord. 

Jesus was so filled with his Father that in his total self-giving he rejoiced and brought joy to all around him and to the entire humanity. Imitating their Lord and Saviour, the first Christians were filled with Christ, and in their self-giving to each other and to God, they brought true joy and eternal hope to each other. We are today called to accept the challenge of living our Christian vocation, even in these moments of crisis and anxiety, emanating divine joy, in our joyful and loving self-giving. 

How joyful is our testimony as Christians, today? 

The height of discipleship

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 3rd week in Easter time

April 28, 2020: Acts 7:51-8:1a; John 6:30-35

We are given the picture of the martyrdom of Stephen... the height of discipleship, giving one's life up for the sake of Truth. The real courage that is exhibited in the passage of today, where Stephen dares to say what he saw and heard, or what he was given to see and hear. 

The Gospel presents the same courage manifested by Jesus, challenging the Scribes and the Pharisees and offering himself as the bread of life; infact, Stephen is presented to us as an ideal disciple who did what Jesus did, who lived the way Jesus lived and who died the exact way Jesus died. The cue is the prayer: "Into your hands I commend my spirit". While Jesus makes that prayer to the Father, Stephen makes it to Jesus: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit". This, incidentally, is the first prayer that we see, addressed to Jesus, in history. 

The height of discipleship consists in the courage to imitate the master in every little detail...in our life, our prayer, our convictions and our priorities. Today surrounded by a health crisis, what is our mental disposition? 

A disposition of fright would right away disqualify us from being convinced disciples. A disposition of rash and ruthless denial of reality and insensitive breach of the consensus for common good, again is a disqualifier for a disciple of Christ. Instead, sensitivity to the suffering, faith to see the presence of God even amidst the darkness that surrounds, the readiness to state the facts and stand for truth, the compassion to look not only at our need and our boredom but at the needs and anxieties of the hapless lot, and finally the trust in entrusting ourselves and the entire world to the Will of God - these would be true signs and the height of our discipleship today.

How close are we in our lifestyle to Jesus, our Lord and Master?

The Face of an Angel

WORD 2day: Monday, 3rd week in Easter time

April 27, 2020: Acts 6:8-15; John 6:22-29

The readings today remind us of our vocation and gift. 'What are we called to?', that was the question that the people meant when they ask Jesus in the Gospel today, "what can we do to accomplish God's works?" "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent": that is our vocation, that is our gift! 

Vocation, because it is our life task, to know the Lord, love and accept him as our personal saviour and testify to him unto death. Being a vocation, it is a task at all times, notwithstanding whether they are good or bad. More precisely, specially at trying times, because it is a challenge to remain faithful to the Master!

It is a gift, because in doing it, we become children of God (cf.Jn 1:12). It is a state of grace where we turn into co-heirs to the Reign (cf Rom 8:17), and we acquire the face of angel - as it is said of St.Stephen in the first reading today. 

Our faith and our commitment to faith adorn our face with a light and beauty that makes it look 'angelic'... let us realise our hidden face of an angel; let us preserve and persevere in growing to the full stature of the angels - close to God and ever at God's service!

GOD REVEALS... AND WE?

Receive, Realise and Respond

April 26, 2020: 3rd Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:14,22-33; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35

Christ is the fullness of Revelation of God. What God has been revealing through various means and varied persons, God finally revealed in fullness through God's own Son and there is no other revelation that is fuller than this. However, Revelation has not ended with it. It goes on even today, it continues, it progresses! What is most important is what we do in the face of this continuous, progressive revelation.

There is an entire mindset and disposition that comes into play when we reflect on this aspect of revelation! First of all, one has to believe that there is an ongoing revelation from God - that God speaks today, here and now! Not that everything is said and done, recorded and sealed and there is nothing new to know! God reveals, in and through each and every thing that happens to us and around us. At this point of time there is a global happening that is filling the minds of every one invariably... the health emergency that the entire planet is facing. Apart from the great sadness and suffering that it is causing to persons and communities, there is a revelation here in too...this is where our eyes of faith have to become sharper to observe and understand, look and learn, spot and personalise.

Secondly, when we say God reveals in situations, it is not that God creates a situation so than it could be revealed... let us not give into that naive interpretation that is doing the rounds (in fact every time a so-called natural disaster strikes this interpretations is revived). It is so unintelligent and unChristian to say God sends some disasters to remind the human beings how they have gone astray! The term so-called natural disasters is purposefully used here, because how many of these natural disasters are really and literally "natural"...if only we analyse them enough, we would see that ultimately they were human-made, the cause be greed, exploitation of the resources and insensitive approach to the common home, the planet earth and the universe. It is never that God sends disasters... God sends reminders and messages through persons who speak up and protest and call the attention of the world. But we are so negligent of these sign right upto the moment when the disaster breaks open! How blind are we to neglect the induced climate change that is ticking the globe's way to annihilation. How hard headed are we to believe that using an extra automobile or cutting an odd tree in a locality or polluting a little rivulet in the vicinity would do nothing to the global wellbeing! 

Having these reflections at the back of our mind...let us listen to the Word giving us three commands this day: Receive, Realise and Respond to God's Revelation - only then shall you be truly considered God's own people! When God reveals Godself and the essential truths to live by in our daily life...

...We receive. The disciples as they walked, when the Lord offered to walk with them, they accepted it, they received him. When Jesus began to speak to them about a lot of things that have happened they listened with patience, they received it. When they found Jesus had something divine to offer them, they invited him to stay with them, they received him in their house. Today as the Lord offers us revelations, we need to be in a position to receive, to welcome the message, to really listen and truly see what the Lord wants to communicate.

...We realise. Once Jesus broke the bread, they realised it was the Lord. Once we experience a unique sign from the Lord we would realise that it is the Lord who is at work. The Lord communicates himself to us, we need to realise how great we are to receive it and realise how wonderful it is to have the Lord with us. We need to realise our own frailties, faults and most of all the responsibility that we have right now, right here - to do whatever we can, however small it might be!

...We respond. The disciples as soon as they realised it was their Master, they could not wait, they left and returned to where they started from, to meet the apostles. They didnt mind the distance they had covered, nor the effort or the tiredness, they wanted to respond wholeheartedly and they did it. Responding to the revelations of the Lord, many a times, will demand much from us and we need to be prepared. We need to be prepared to put ourselves into some inconvenience, some suffering, some challenge and some call to reach out and to change our ways.

Even today, in and through the proclamation of the Word, through the experience of people shared, through the events that take place around us, through the majesty of the nature and power of the miracles, the Lord keeps revealing Godself to us. Let us not give into naive interpretations and fictional narratives! Let us get truly in touch with the Lord and sit at the Lord's feet, ready to receive, realise and respond to God's self revelation with love, faith and hope.

A 'Go' that binds

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

April 25, 2020: Celebrating Mark the Evangelist

1 Peter 5:5-14; Mark 16:15-20

Certainly the words of St. Peter in the first reading will speak immediately to the situation today: you will have to suffer only for a little while: God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will see that all is well again; he will confirm, strengthen and support you (5:10). A message of hope! But that is not the crux of what we celebrate today; it is Mark, the evangelist. 

Mark comes out as a dedicated young man convinced of his call and enduring in his response. The apostles and disciples were extremely different from each other in their calibre and character. But what bound them together was the 'Go' that they received from the Lord. It was the commission from the Master that kept them  going. We see generations of them following each other in responding whole heartedly to the project entrusted. 

To Go, meant to go to the unknown lands, to meet unknown people, to get into unknown territories, to get out of one's comfort zones. This is exactly what the Holy Father keeps insisting - a Church that is on its move, a Church what has hearkened to the command of its Head, a Church that is continuously trying to make newer sense of this world and of living life to the full. 

Mark becomes the representative of the generation that immediately followed the 12 and Mark leaves indelible trails by his commitment and dedication. He was the first one to record a written account as a Gospel, say the researchers and he did this mostly from the teachings and sermons of Peter, the elder brother among the apostles. 

The call is to the young today: can you dedicate yourself to the commission from the Lord... to Go!

Gamaliel and the Miracle of Multiplication

WORD 2day: Friday, 2nd week in Easter time

April 24, 2020: Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15

Gamaliel proved a true God-fearing man and his words become a miracle. Try and notice the beautiful connection made in the Liturgy of the Word today: there is the multiplication of the loaves reported in the Gospel but we see that unfolding in reality in the Acts, in the form of the multiplication of the Christians. From a mere handful, the people of the Way begin to grow in leaps and bounds. 

More than the miracle itself, what led to the miracle claims our attention here. The miracle happened because of the following three reasons:

- the Apostles and the band kept God and God's Word above everything else, even above their own lives. They were ready even to lay down their lives, instead of giving up on proclaiming the Word. They openly declared they would obey God, even if that meant their lives!

- the Apostles and the people considered it God's mission and not their own enterprise; they gave the entire credit to God. This is what is proved by Gamaliel's statement. If it were their own making and their own plan, it would have crumbled in  no time. It was God's plan and they persons involved recognised it and readily accepted it, the consequence being the great fruits they saw in such a short time.

- the Apostles had no other hidden agenda, for instance their own glory, making a living, or creating a following for themselves. They surrendered themselves totally to the Lord and they were multiplied, multiplied far beyond their own expectations. 

God's Word, God's plan and God's glory - these are the sources of invincible strength that one can have in life... and a Christian with these is indeed a great witness unto the Lord.

We and the Holy Spirit...

WORD 2day: Thursday, 2nd week in Easter time

April 23, 2020: Acts 5: 27-33; John 3: 31-36

The presence and coming of the Spirit and witnessing to the Lord and his resurrection, are very closely knit and that is what the Word brings out today. If we have to witness to the salvation that we have experienced in the Lord - firstly, it is possible only with the Spirit: for no one can proclaim that Jesus is Lord except through the Spirit. Secondly, it is the Spirit that makes the witness efficacious. 

When we submit to the Lord, the Father fills us with the Spirit says Jesus today in the Gospel...and that is what is needed utmost in our lives. It is happily surprising to see the way the Apostles looked at, understood and related with the Spirit... in the Word today we have an interesting and inspiring episode. 

The Apostles declare, 'We and the Holy Spirit are witnesses to these things!' It was not so easy for them to witness to the Lord until a particular point of time in their lives, when everything changed. There was something within them, with them and around them, that made them extraordinarily strong, fearless and passionate about the Lord. It was so clear for them that it was the Spirit. Indeed, for them the Spirit was someone who lived with them, within them - just like anyone of them. That is why they spoke of the Spirit as one who lived with them, to be taken count of: we and the Holy Spirit.

Today, our Christian witness would go a long way in bringing the Lord to the people and bringing the people to the Lord, if the Spirit becomes our constant life companion, as someOne who lives with us!

Conformity or Conflict? Conviction or Convenience?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 2nd week in Easter time

April 22, 2020: Acts 5:17-26; John 3:16-21

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light; whoever lives the truth comes to the light! Light is given as an imagery of openness, transparency, outspokenness, integrity, conviction and courage. Darkness is hiding, double play, people pleasing, hypocrisy, convenience and comfort seeking.

The world contains four categories of people in relation to right things. 

The first category are those who do the right - they are people of Light, courageous and convinced. The second category are those who assist those who do the right - they are people for the the Light, convinced and seeking the truth! 

The third type are those who hinder anyone doing the right, these are people tending towards darkness and they stand for spreading that darkness. There is the fourth category, and the worst - they are those who are involved in doing the evil directly and acting against any light! We find all the four categories referred to in the readings today. 

The primary call we have today is to analyse our choices, our preferences and our priorities and see for ourselves, sincerely, to which of these four categories we would belong. Secondly, there is a lesson for us today, that while we strive to be people of the light and do the right, we can come across persons of all the four categories. What would our reaction be? What would guide our response in situations such as these... 

Conformity? or Conflict? or Conviction? or Convenience?