To stay clear of trivialities

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

June 17, 2020: 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

The only condition placed before Elisha, that he may receive a double share of the Spirit possessed by Elijah, was that Elisha should see Elijah being taken away by God. What does it really mean? The challenge here is not to miss what is central  to whatever we are involved in, being distracted with the trivialities.

The Gospel places the same condition before us. The actions that we do will have their true value depending on the fact whether the centrality of the right element was ensured. What we do, will be judged only by the central motivation behind what is done and an unassailable focus that has to be in every thing that we do and we are in our life.

Praying, fasting and alms giving are the three actions mentioned in the Gospel today and they together epitomise the entire religious practice of a Jew. The point is: not to miss what is central to it in getting distracted with the trivialities of human recognition and immediate rewards. Yes, they are trivialities - human recognition and immediate rewards. But these have today taken the centre stage, leaving behind the real centralities.

In our relationship with ourselves, with others and with God, we are invited to pay attention to the most central of all concerns: to do what is most pleasing to God at a given instant. Any other concern is only a triviality, however good and  practical it could be. The spiritual prudence that Jesus teaches us today is to stay clear of the trivialities and place God at the centre and at the core.

The Father's Perfection

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

June 16, 2020: 1 Kings 21: 17-29; Matthew 5: 43-48

Coming to the end of the Beatitudes, Jesus today summarises the beatitudes into just one evocation: be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And what does that perfection consist of? The essence of it is Love, an unconditional love, a limitless love, a non-judgmental love that respects the inner self of a person and the person's true intentions!

The first reading is an extreme type of an example for God's love and mercy. As the psalms and other books in the Old Testament describe, God always manifested Godself to be slow to anger, abounding in love, ready to forgive and longing to remain in relationship with humanity. Though Ahab's acts were so gruesome, the mere fact that he repented for those and felt sorry for his foolishness, turned the entire issue upside down. Ahab finds favour in the eyes of God, Ahab becomes lovable all over again. Definitely not a solitary case in the history of humanity!

The message is pretty clear. For anyone may it be, the merciful Lord awaits and awaits with an ever burning love, to get us all back into Lord's own embrace for eternity. But this getting back will not happen automatically. It needs more attention to basics through developing traits such as personal integrity, spiritual identity and sense of belonging to the Reign. 

Above all these, we are challenged today to possess the epitome of Christian life style: Love, the Father's Perfection!

That Extra Mile

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

June 15, 2020: 1 Kings 21: 1-16, Matthew 5: 38-42

Jesus presents to us the most impractical of all his teachings... showing the other cheek, giving more of what you are deprived of, and walking that extra mile with the one who tries to take advantage of me. This was in fact the teaching that inspired the "satyagraha" movement of Mahatma Gandhi.

The first reading presents us with the exploitative element that is always present giving us the opportunity to practice our virtues and attain our salvation. At times the evil around us threatens to take the better of us, but the Word today reminds us of a fundamental attitude we are called to: "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21).

Looking at the evil that is present, the treacherous exploitative forces around and inhuman policies that deprive the innocent and vulnerable of their ordinary life and its possibilities, there are so many who are prone to adapt the same methodology to fight back: perpetrating evil by violence and killing, justifying exploitation of another category of people by the so-called deprived or making rules and policies that seem to salvage the situation for some but put the rest of the humanity into a sense of hurt and revenge. What is the real solution: it is nothing other than true love, a love that is modelled after the mercy of God, revealed in Christ.

That we can identify ourselves as disciples of Christ, we are expected to be spiritually prepared to allow ourselves be taken for granted without letting the goodness within us go down the drain; we are called to be who we are - good and loving - regardless of what others are! It is of course difficult and demanding...but that alone can make a difference in the world - that extra mile.

SACRAMENT OF THE SELF-GIVING GOD

The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

June 14, 2020: Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17; John 6: 51-58

It is a beautiful day to think of the most loving mystery of our faith: the Lord becoming our nourishment! God feeds his people and moreover, God feeds the people with God’s own self! What a mystery and how loving to think of it!

One of the most beautiful and meaningful tabernacles that I have seen, I picture it so well in my mind, has a metal carving of a pelican mother, pecking her breast to tear her flesh open and feed her young ones with her own blood dripping from her body. Such a beautiful image to refer to Sacrament contained in that sanctum sanctorum. It is from the famous Christian legend that made the early Christians adapt that symbol for Christ himself.

Jesus' act of giving his body and blood to the believer is in keeping with the identity of the God whom the people of Israel always believed in and experienced. The God of their faith was signified in that act and that is why, when he declared, 'I am the bread from heaven, and those who eat of me shall not die', the people were shocked; some were enraged, many others deserted him! It was indeed a hard teaching for them. But it was a fact: Jesus did give himself, his body and his blood for the everlasting life of the whole world (cf. Jn 6:51). In this act of giving his body and blood, Jesus reveals to us three profound dimensions of God.

The first is, God as a parent: God as Father and Mother, is a fabulous revelation that Jesus has made of God. It was not entirely a new dimension; the people of Israel did experience it in an intense manner. Moses reminds them of that in the first reading... he reminds them of how God walked them through the desert and provided them with the food and drink that they needed. The provident God was actually a father, a mother, a loving parent, though the people preferred to look at him only as an awesome God and an almighty God. Jesus introduced God as "Abba", "Father", a loving parent, a lover par excellence. In giving his body and blood as food, Jesus highlights this element of God, the element of nourishment of the children, the element of feeding and the element of fending for the needs of the children.

Every time we come to the Eucharist, shouldn’t we imagine it as a child coming to the Mother asking for food! Just imagine that scene and the love that is involved in the mother giving the food and the trust with which the child asks for it. That is Eucharist. In this particular time that we find ourselves unable to approach the Lord in this Sacrament, is it not this longing that we need to nurture and treasure within us? Sad it would be if some find nothing lacking, during this experience! Loving it would be, if we long for it and every time we make a spiritual communion express our willingness to stay with the Lord and stay with the Eucharistic love always!

The second dimension is, God as a friend: There is no love greater than a person laying down one's life for one's friend (Jn 15:13). Jesus taught this model and lived it to the letter. As he shared that last supper with his friends he made it very clear to them, that it was a prefigurement of what has to happen on the Cross very shortly. The bread to become his body and the wine to become his blood... we do it in memory of him right until today, in memory of that friend-God who came down to live among us, be like us and give of himself to us.

Every time we break the bread, we are challenged to be friends of God, to imitate his sacrifice, to burn with the same love for our brothers and sisters. The second reading elaborates this. Every time we raise that cup, we are reminded of that last drop of blood that came from his side, reminded us that we are called to live not merely for ourselves, but for others, for those who are in need of love and meaning in life. It is easy to ask the Lord who is my friend…as that person asked Jesus, “who is my neighbour”…but Jesus would never answer that. Jesus would only tell me, to whom I need to be a friend, that is, to whom I need to reach out, to whom I need to give, to whom I need to extend my loving arms! What an eucharistic message that is…to constantly reach out in love!

The third dimension is, God as part of us: The most difficult-to-digest dimension is this: God as part of us, God as dwelling in us! If you eat of this body, you will remain in me and I in you, says Jesus. God wants to remain in us, to dwell in us, to form part of us! God becoming part of us!?! Isn't that kind of scandalous? But that is the truth. What a difference it will make if only we realise and believe in that truth! We will come to you and make our home with you (cf Jn14:23), abide in me as I abide in you (Jn 15:4), you will abide in me and I will abide in you (cf. Jn 6:56)... we find these repeated teachings where Jesus reveals a unique dimension of a God who wishes, longs and seeks to abide, not just with us, but IN us. If we truly understand its implications and effects, we would have attained the eternal life that Jesus promises.

Every time we get down to pray, be it in the family or as a community or personally, we need to picture to ourselves this God, God who is part of us. We are not trying to cry out to a God who is far away; we are not complaining to a God who does not know what is happening in our life; we are not trying to convince a God who does not understand what I am going through… we are getting in touch with that God who dwells within us, who is part of us, who is suffering with us, who is feeling the same loneliness as we do, who is much more close to us than we can ever imagine! Every prayer should remind us of the Eucharistic Union that we celebrate with the Lord, the Eucharistic Union that we are called to live every moment of our life, because God is PART of us.

As we celebrate and thank God for this greatest gift of all, today, let us strive to experience God as our Father, our Mother, our Friend, and above all... Our God as abiding within us. Thus shall we be transformed more and more into Him.

Speaking in Action

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 13, 2020: Celebrating St. Anthony of Padua
I Kings 19: 19-21; Matthew 5: 33-37

Do not swear at all; just act! Do not just promise; be righteous and noble! Do not just speak; but live! If at all you speak, let your actions speak before your words, your promises and your propaganda.

Elisha speaks in action, just like Elijah did while he figuratively communicated that he passes on the mandate given to him, to Elisha. Elisha responds in concrete by burning the plow and slaughtering the bulls... that was a response in action, commitment made visible, readiness made absolute. The episode reminds us of the famous phrase, "burning the boats", choosing a point of no return for the sake of the Lord.

The Saint of today is no less an example for the same. St. Antony has a fame that makes him a favourite among most of the people of God. Leaving out the signs and wonders and miracles reported in and through his intercession, one thing that stands out in this person of God, is his complete dedication to God. He lived his entire life, for God, for God's Word and for God's Reign. A saint who not only spoke, but continues to speak in action!

Each of us is invited specifically at our own moment in history to live a call that is specific to each of us. Realising this call and responding to it with a sense of absolute commitment is the message that the readings present to us: not to reflect and come up with some sound and sweet interpretation; but to look for a way of living our faith concretely on a daily basis. Let every word be worthy of being accompanied by an admirable action; let every action of ours be inspired by the Word that has called us and commissions us. 

Let us listen to the Word, and speak the Word, above all, in action.

The Lord in the Gentle Breeze

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

June 12, 2020: I Kings 19: 9a, 11-16; Matthew 5: 27- 32

The storm went thundering, the fire went blazing, but the Lord wasn't there! The Lord of surprises manifests himself in the gentle breeze and gives us the most powerful of all messages: "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). We will find the Lord if only we earnestly seek. We will see the face of God, if only we seek it with all our heart. In our daily life and routine, can we truly declare, 'it is your face O Lord that I seek'!

Knowing God, experiencing God and manifesting God is not a matter of accomplishment, but a sense of simple acknowledgement. Knowing God is a grace, for we cannot know God unless God reveals Godself. It is in acknowledgement of that self revelation of God that we are blessed. Experiencing God is possible only if we are open to our daily happenings and the message they have for us. We would miss a treasure, if we fail to meditate on those daily events, even if they are just ordinary simple things! 

Apart from these, that is knowing God and experiencing God, there is something that we have to take upon ourselves, choose to deliberately do, accept the responsibility for: that is, to manifest God. To manifest God, to reveal God, to make people know God, to enable the world experience God - this is a task given to us and when we do it, we are being instruments in the hands of God. That is what we are called to, each in our own way. In our words, our actions, our choices and the way we relate to people we are called to be those who manifest God: will those who seek God, find God in us?

If that has to happen, our daily life has to be a life of simple commitment to the Lord in all its sense. The tasks we undertake, the relationships we enter into, the commitments we accept on ourselves, the daily duties we perform, the normal cares on our shoulders and our minds: these are all ways to our sanctity, provided they are done with a purity of intention that befits the Lord who has called us to all these. This is the meaning of the gentle breeze, the ordinariness of life, the simple routine of the daily existence. 

The Lord in the gentle breeze invites us to personal integrity, simplicity of commitment and purity of intention, on a daily basis, in simple things, in ordinariness of daily life. 

Being Apostles of Encouragement

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 11, 2020: Celebrating St. Barnabas, the Apostle of Encouragement

Acts 11: 2b-126, 13: 1-3; Matthew 5: 20-26

The spirit of the Reign is a spirit of encouragement and empowerment, it is not merely cynicism and critique. Barnabas stood for this spirit of the Reign, and that was the reason the apostles named him so - the term Barnabas, meaning 'son of encouragement' (cf. Acts 4:36). Today as we celebrate this Apostle, some one who was not among the 12 nevertheless proved himself equal even to Paul, in his passion for the Reign of God. 

Some characteristics that stand out in Barnabas are his relentless passion for proclamation, his courage to brave all odds, his capacity for being sincere even to the extent of having confrontations with his close friend, Paul (Acts 15). 

The Reign-lessons this great apostle gives us today can be three:

1. Build up persons, that is the way to build up the Reign of God.
Bringing Saul to the Christian community (Acts 9), going errand to solve the confusion within the churches (Acts 11), ready to play the second fiddle for the sake of the common mission... these were the marked traits of this apostle that built up persons around him.

2. Be faithful to the Lord, with a firm heart, that is the way to belong to the Reign.
Be it when they praised him as Zeus, or when things did not go well with the other apostles, or even when he had to part ways with Paul his close collaborator, Barnabas remained firm in what he believed to be right and God's will. That was his way of belonging to the Reign.

3. Rejoice in the matters of the Lord, that is the way to invite people to the Reign.
Barnabas, along with Paul  and later by himself, did go through tough times for the sake of the mission entrusted to him. But nothing stopped him, not even imprisonments and lashes and threats of killing deterred him from rejoicing in the Lord, for the opportunity to suffer for the Word.

Let us take these lessons to heart today, specially in moments of crisis and uncertainty, anxiety and anguish. Let us be encouraged, and be encouragements to the others today. Let us give hope to those around and remain firm in the Lord rejoicing in the encouragement that the Spirit brings us. May the apostle of encouragement, St. Barnabas intercede for us. 

Holding on to the Lord

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

June 10, 2020: 1 Kings 18: 20-39; Matthew 5: 17-19

Faith is holding on, it is holding on to the Lord against all odds. Hence perseverance is the capacity to hold on for a longer time, longer than your normal patience can really hold. Amidst crises of various kinds, and specially amidst some injustice that you experience for no cause of your's, the capacity to hold on, is tested more intensely.

Today we witness some spectacular events in Elijah's lifetime. This could both be a positive lesson and a negative one at that. Positive, when we think of the greatness that God reveals right in front of the eyes of everyone. Negative, when we think of the fact that people who look for these kinds of sensational happenings to prove God, or find reasons and justifications amidst sufferings like saying 'God is angry' and 'God is displeased' and all the human absurdities attributed to God! 

However, there is one formidable message that we can derive from Elijah's experience: one person's faith could save and revive the faith of an entire people... when we hold on to God, we hold our fellow persons up. So it is with us, even in our families for instance. When a person sees many in the family or all else in the family going away from God, the person's faith could prove instrumental in bring the rest of them back to God! How many today, stand testimonies to this phenomenon!

Holding on to God is not an easy thing anyway. Just because it is challenging the Lord does not go easy on that demand... he is unwaveringly stern on that call - to remain firm! It is of course, not merely calling out, 'Lord! Lord!", which means to hold on to God. But it is to keep the Word of the Lord, to live by the commands of the Lord, come what may. When we do that we hold on; if not, we fall. 

How prepared am I to hold on to the Lord?

That your jars may never run dry!

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

June 9, 2020: I Kings 17: 7-16; Matthew 5: 13-16

Be salt, be light, says the Lord, that your jar may never run dry! As salt uses up its saltiness never for itself, but adds taste wherever it is present; as light shines never for itself but burns in order that all those who around may see where they are - so is a disciple of Christ, called to live for others without counting the cost. And when you do so, come what may, you will be taken care of. It could be a raven which brings food, or a widow who feeds you, or any strange thing can happen, all in favour of you, because you are a chosen one of the Mighty Lord! 

Being salt, you are required to lose yourself and dissolve your identity in the whole lot.  A disciple or an apostle of the Lord, loses oneself in doing what the Lord wants. At times the person will not even know why, but would do something risking many a thing, even one's own life - because God wants it so. That is being lost in the Lord, being lost in the whole, being lost in the entirety doing your little bit, certain that in your own way you have contributed to the holistic goodness.

Being light, you are required to burn yourself for the others to see. It is nothing but an imitation of the Son of God who gave up his divinity (Phil 2) and shone to be the light of the world (Jn 8:12). Burning does not only mean shining, it also means being consumed. What is burning is being consumed, and at a point of time, you will find nothing that remains - all for the sake of others! For some, that others could be the family, for some it could be the parish or the faith community, for some it could be the society at large... all for the sake of making things bright for the whole world.

Being salt, being light, is a life that is lived for others. A life that is lived for others, will never run itself out. The widow of Zarephath is challenged to think of the other before herself. She made up her mind do it and she witnessed an astounding miracle; and she herself becomes a miraculous witness referred to even by Christ himself (cf. Lk 4:26). 

If we accept the same challenge in our day to day life, to place others before us, others' need before our's, others' concerns before our's, then we will witness the same miracle. Let us accept the challenge to be salt and light, that is to be Christlike, that our jars may never run dry!

God is in charge!

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

June 8, 2020: I Kings 17:1-6; Matthew 5: 1-12

We have today the all famous 'Beatitudes' from the Gospel according to Mathew. Jesus explains to us a set of blessedness, a definition that goes contrary to the definitions of the so called 'ordinary world'. It seems as if St. Paul took the cue from here to write those beautiful wisdom: "Do not be conformed to the world, but... discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom 12:2).

The Blessedness that Jesus presents is not something that demands that I do a lot of things and that I prove myself to be a great success in unbelievable feats! It just consists in surrendering to the Lord and realising that in everything, and in spite of everything, 'God is incharge!' 

The situation today all around the world, though seems more tolerated than a few weeks ago, seems all intriguing and challenging. Not just gotten over with a crisis so bad, we already see riots on the streets, war cries on the horizon and unnecessary feuds on the cards... situations such as these that try our patience, persons who get on to our nerves, moments that challenge our will to belong to and trust in God and temptations that avow to take us away from God...they are bound to be there... may be this day, may be this week we begin, or any day in my daily life: but what is going to be my attitude? 

Let us have a look at the attitude of Elijah in the first reading: he surrenders, and surrenders totally! That is the model, that is the example, that is the attitude of the beatitude, that is the mentality that realises, accepts and believes that in everything, 'God is incharge!' When I do that, my needs will be miraculously met: even a raven could do the bidding of the Lord, don't we see?