O Key of David - Saving Assurance

THE WORD THAT SAVES

December 21, 2020: Fourth Monday in Advent

Songs of Songs 2:18-14; Luke 1:39-45

Blessed assurance, we sing! The assurance is born of love, the love of God which comes down from centuries to centuries! This is the message from the Word for this day, taking us closer to the celebrations of Christmas. 

People of God are not merely persons or families, it is progenies...generations after generations. That says so much about the community dimension of Christian faith. Christian faith is lived in communities, in interpersonal communication, in intercommunity communion and universal communion. The salvation that comes from the Lord, comes as an assurance, amidst all our unworthiness!

Assurance, yes...but not without a natural and due prerequisites - that which tops them all is the eagerness and readiness to behold the Lord. The first reading speaks to us of the yearning and the eagerness in the heart of the beloveds of God, for God! The Gospel highlights the readiness, preparedness and promptness in recognising the Lord and beholding God's presence. 

Reaching out to the other, gratefully recognising the service of the other as God's intervention, and finding God's presence in every event of life, is a sign of beholding God's presence. What the Lord opens no one can close, and what the Lord closes no one can open. The Lord is the key to understand the real meaning of our lives... that is our saving assurance! 

H.O.M.E

Prepare a dwelling for the Lord

December 20, 2020:  4th Sunday of Advent
Judges 27: 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Romans 16: 25-27; Luke 1: 26-38

We are in the last Sunday before the all important feast we have been preparing ourselves for! Just 4 days to go for Christmas. Today the readings speak of the importance of getting ready with a home for the Lord. David in the first reading is concerned with building a home for the Lord and in the Gospel we see God preparing a worthy home for God's son to be born into this world, the worthy home being Mother Mary's immaculate womb. And it leaves us with one pertinent question: have I prepared a home to receive my saviour yet?

How do I prepare a home, a worthy dwelling for the Saviour who visits us? We can prepare a home by growing within us and among us the four qualities that are exemplified for us in the readings, by the persons involved.

Humility: Being humble is the first quality we are required to have. Mary is presented to us as the epitome of this humility. She acknowledges her lowliness before God and thus she is exalted high above all. The Lord teaches humility to David,through Nathan. The king David as a humble son, learns from God and accepts his state of unworthiness. We are called before the Lord to realise our state of mind and state of life, to be grateful and to acknowledge the goodness we have felt from God.

Obedience: Being obedient is the next important criterion for God to visit us. 'Be it done unto me, according to your word,' said Mary. She knew the best thing that could happen to her was the Will of God for her life and so she submits herself totally to God's will. David too may have been rebellious at times but he was an obedient son, who always returned to listen to God and obey God's commands. We need to be obedient to the Lord to really receive the Lord into our lives- there can be no doubts about this!

Mercy: Being merciful, is the third important quality towards making a place for the Lord, worthy of the nature of the Lord. St. Paul brings out how the eternal mystery of God's love and mercy, was being manifested in the coming of the only Son of the Father. It is because the Lord is merciful, that in God's eternal mercy, God deigns to reveal Godself to us and thus come and dwell amidst us. 'Be ye merciful as your heavenly father is merciful', invited Jesus. Yes,that is the only way we can invite the Lord and make the Lord's presence felt among us.

Empathy: Being empathetic towards the needy, the suffering, the homeless, the lonely the least, the lost, the last, the hurt and the broken, is the most apt way of welcoming the Lord home! That will be the home that the Lord best loves, rather than homes that are merely spic and span because no one has entered that home; than the homes that are elegant because there is so much of money spent merely on external pomp and splendour; than the homes that are closed and secured, out of reach for the poor and the dirty, the needy and the clumsy. The Lord comes to identify himself with the poor, the sinners, the outcasts, the least, the marginalised; it is there the Lord would dwell. If we empathise with these, we would as well receive the Lord!

Humble, Obedient, Merciful and Empathetic, we can make a HOME for the Lord and there is no much time left: let us get into action NOW!

O Great Lord of All

THE WORD WHO IS LORD

December 18, 2020:  Lord - the Lord of All

Jeremiah 23: 5-8; Matthew 1: 18-24

O Adonai, the Lord of all...that is how the people of Israel experienced YHWH...the Lord of everyone, the Lord of everything, the Lord of time and the Lord of history, Everything that happened, happened not only with the knowledge of the Lord, but within the great plan of salvation. 

There were things going wrong, they considered it a punishment. There were things going just well, and they knew it was God who ordained it for them. There were things getting slowly into shape and they knew it was God was making things happen for them. God was their Lord, not just their Lord, but Lord of everything, Lord of all...the Lord of Lords.

In waiting for the Lord, the Word wishes us to grow in this attitude of accepting the Lord, as the Lord of all...Our Lord in everything...Lord of every dimension of our life! Without reserving for ourselves nothing, absolutely nothing in our life. The Lord knows us and therefore whatever we experience it is from the hands of the Lord - be they joys or sorrows, challenges or victories!

Shall we grow in that attitude...let the school of the Word in Advent teach us!

O Wisdom of God Most High

THE WORD TO BE BORN

December 17, 2020: Wisdom - the Word made flesh

Genesis 49: 2, 8-10; Matthew 1: 1-17

This day marks the beginning of the seven special days of preparation towards the great feast of the Word becoming flesh...the Word eternal, when enfleshes itself, becomes Wisdom, the concrete manifestation of  God's knowledge. 

The Wisdom of God Most High, has been witnessed to from time immemorial, from all eternity. The Gospel's genealogy account, is to establish this eternal plan coming to its fulfilment in Christ, in incarnation and in the very act of God choosing to intervene in human history in a manner that cannot be paralleled to any.

God's Wisdom is manifest in justice that flourishes and peace that flows like an ever flowing river. Where there is justice and peace, there is Wisdom. When I become a source of peace and champion of justice, I become the Wisdom of God, that is, the manifestation of God made human! When I do nothing to further the cause of justice or peace, I cannot claim to be wise, nor to be in the vicinity of Wisdom, that is God who comes to dwell amidst us. 

Much worse, when I am the cause of injustice even in the least of ways, or the reason for destruction of peace whether consciously or unconsciously, I am against the Word, against the Wisdom, against the Reign of God that every Christmas very specially indicates. 

Today, let us resolve to behold the Wisdom of God, be filled with that Wisdom and share that Wisdom so that, we may create wherever we are, a community of justice and peace, concrete revelations of the Wisdom of the God most high.

Open your eyes and make Him seen!

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 16, 2020: 3rd Wednesday in Advent

Isaiah 45:6-8,18,21-25; Lk 7: 19-23

We begin the novena to the great feast of Christmas this evening! And the Word today inaugurates the immediate preparation to receive with Lord, with the question: are you the one to come? And look at the answer given , not merely by Jesus also by the first reading and the responsorial psalm. Open your eyes and see!

John the Baptist who identified Jesus and proclaimed him to the people, begins to have his doubts. Maybe, he too, just like the other Jews, expected Jesus to come out with a plan and a programme drastically different - a rebellion, a revolution, a protest, a challenge to the status quo! All these were happening, but in a much different plane altogether, from what everyone was trying to see!

The dumb speak, the deaf hear, the crippled walk, the sinners are forgiven, the diseased are healed, the lonely are accompanied, the poor are fed, the jobless are sustained, the weak are strengthened, the oppressed are freed, the voiceless are empowered, the least are lifted, the lost are respected... these are the signs of the coming of the Lord. 

Are you the one to come? The Lord would say...I have already come! Are you ready to make me seen? Are you prepared manifest me to the world in your words and attitudes, in your choices and priorities, in your criteria and discerments? It is important to open your eyes and see...but as sons and daughters of God, we have an added duty! Apart from opening our eyes and seeing, we need to open our eyes to all the suffering and the needy, and make the Lord seen! That shall be true Christmas!

Truly God's Children?

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 15, 2020: 3rd Tuesday in Advent

Zephaniah 3: 1-2, 9-13; Matthew 21: 28-32

At a point in the first reading the Lord says: 'you need not be ashamed of all your deeds...'. Not to be ashamed of myself is a life of dignity and honour; that I am myself and I am proud of it. True love and true regard for each other will give one this dignity and honour. The Lord fills us with this dignity and honour as God's sons and daughters. 

In our moral integrity we are challenged to remain worthy of that calling we have, that is, to be sons and daughters of God our loving father and mother. It consists of the decision we make to hear the voice of God, listen to it, realise the call within it and act on it with love. 

Not hearing the voice would be a total insensitivity to God - a rejection or a shutting out of God from our lives. Not many of us dare to it, atleast not for long in life. Hearing but not listening would be a disrespect - this is more often than not, seen in our attitudes. Listening but not realising the call involved in it, would be foolishness - because why all the effort and attention to listen but finally only to throw it away in the air. Is it not a waste of time and energy? Finally, Realising the call that is involved in the Word listened to, but not acting upon it, would be a deliberate choice that would negate our very belonging to the Lord - that is we telling ourselves and the world, that we are not really, truly, in actuality, children of God!

When we are ready to hear, listen, realise and act on God's word, we would be true sons and daughters of God; and we would never need to be ashamed of ourselves, our deeds or our lives. The point is, are we really God's children!

It's all around you!

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 14, 2020: 3rd Monday in Advent

Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17a; Matthew 21:23-27

In all ages and times there have been people who make of religion, a fairy tale or a horror story! The recent times have seen bands and bands of such people, writing, preaching, proclaiming and shouting at the top of their voice about signs and events, mysteries and milestones...all exciting but so shallow and Un-Christ-ian! Specially in the pandemic times, the reactions of the so-called people at the helm of Christian communities, have been so much challenged and many a times wanting! However leaving those responses aside, we can reflect on the stimulus that calls for that response!

It is not for us to know the time and the hour...but the call is to be prepared and alert, watching and praying constantly, that we may never miss when the Lord visits us. The Lord visiting us is not an extraordinay event...it happens regularly and daily...provided we are ready and willing to behold that visit.

That visit is not something about which we would shudder and shiver, if we live our every moment according to the will of the One who has commissioned us. If we are true and honest about our experience with God, we would find God and Godly signs and God's call to act, every moment of our lives! It is all around us... in faces that surround us, in events that envelope us, in experiences that beckon our choice and in persons who challenge our priorities. 

That visit is not something waiting to happen....no it is something that is waiting to be beheld, because it is already and constantly happening. All that we need to do is open our eyes, ears and above all our hearts, to observe and behold that presence of the Lord. Let us be convinced of the fact that the Lord is present in our days, living with us, walking beside us all the way! And let this be our prayer that we may never miss the Lord who visits us: Lord teach us your ways!

REJOICE! BE JOYFUL..

A Joy that comes from right priorities!

Third Sunday of Advent: December 13, 2020
Isaiah 61: 1-2 a, 10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24; John 1: 1-6, 19-28.

Rejoice...again I say rejoice! Today is the Gaudete Sunday, asking us to celebrate in foreboding joy of the Lord and his coming. Rejoice...again I say rejoice, cries out Paul!My soul rejoices in the Lord sings the Psalmist. I exult for joy declares Isaiah! The reason for all these: the Gospel reminds us: the One for whom the whole creation longs is already amidst us! All that we need to do is, take note of the Lord present. And it is only in a holy joy that we can take note of the presence of the Lord.

Joy is the key Christian value. Especially, in today's world, it is an essential message that a Christian is called to give, repeats strongly our beloved Holy Father Pope Francis, every time that he can! He says a christian should be able to convince the world that one can be filled with joy and live one's life inspiring the same joy in those around and in the world at large. With all the crisis this pandemic has created and the resultant factors, it is possible that one gets confused as to what this joy really means. But as to Christian joy, there should be no doubt what it means.

J-Jesus... the first priority and the foundation.

Christian Joy is to place Jesus first in life. When the Lord is given the first and the central place in life, every thing else falls in place. Relativising every thing else in relation to God is a source of an immense serenity. John the Baptist knew that well and bears witness to this serenity! When he gives himself an identity in relation to the Lamb, as the voice crying out in the wilderness, John the Baptist is not belittling himself, but identifying the role assigned to him. And it is in terms of that role, the kind of treatment that was meted out to him, became tolerable to him. His joy was in waiting for the Lord and identifying the Lord, when he came! 

The foundation of Christian Joy is the Lord himself. It involves a grateful recognition of all that God has done to us. When we are mindful of it, like our blessed mother we would break into a song of praise and thanksgiving: my soul magnifies the Lord; for the Lord has done great things for me. Like Isaiah today and like Jesus himself who would quote the very same verses of Isaiah... we would acknowledge the working of the spirit on our behalf. Our joy comes from the Lord and the Lord alone!

O-Other... prior to me and the principal criterion.

The other... has to come prior to the self in true joy. True Christian joy would take into consideration the other immediately after the Lord, who is the source of joy. Selfishness and avarice, pleasure and exploitation cannot form part of Christian joy. The corporates who find means to profit at the cost of the multitudes, the powerful giants caring nothing about the little poor ones being trampled upon, the institutions fending for their own existence caring nothing about the truly needy and the suffering...these can never be signs of true joy and the other does not matter to them at all.

The very principle of Christian joy is the community and the sense of the people of God! The Don Bosco Youth Centres in Chennai have this tag line attached to them: No one has the right to be happy alone. The call "rejoice" today, comes to the community as a whole to rejoice in the Lord who has willed to act on their behalf. Not just in seasonal acts of kindness, or sporadic events of reaching out, but constantly the other has to be placed before 'me'...the other has to become the criterion that guides my choices and my decision making. What the prophets insisted and what Jesus lived out was this: that nothing mattered to them, when the other was in need, when an other was suffering, when an other was unjustly crushed by selfishness, insensitivity and indifference. The Other has to lead me to act...that is true joy in Christ-ian terms.

Y-You... of course last but not the least

You come at the end nevertheless "you" matter much to the Lord. You come at the end because, you are the protagonist. You should not get lost in your need and suffering, your worry and burdens, your problems and plans... Yes... you have your need, problem, issue, challenge... but the other draws your attention more and the Lord becomes the constant support, that you are able to transcend the troubles and struggles...logically, the fruit is joy, an incomprehensible joy that comes from within. People who see will wonder how you are able to be serene regardless of what you are going through...but you know it...it comes from the Lord and from the priority you give for the other.

You matter much to the Lord. It is not true to think that Christian spirit requires that you negate yourself to the extent that you think your self is evil! No, it cannot be; it is not! You are precious in the eyes of God and you form an integral and important part of God's salvific plan. That is why the Lord comes in search of you, comes to your heart, comes to your home! Recieve the Lord! Experience the Lord! Rejoice in the Lord and you will see, how things can change in life! Your tears shall change into joy...not because the situations around you change...but because your heart changes, with the Lord coming! That is true JOY.

Rejoice... is the call today. Let's rejoice in the Lord and prepare ourselves more intensely with that joy, to receive the Lord when He comes.

Face the fire!

THE WORD IN ADVENT 

December 12, 2020: 2nd Saturday in Advent

Sirach 48: 1-4, 9-11; Matthew 17: 9a, 10-13

Elijah arose like a fire, the Word says and John was the expected Elijah! Elijah was a mighty big challenge for the people of his times - the people revered, the kings trembled, and the other false prophets fell flat before him. This is why, the powerful people in the time of Jesus wondered why Elijah should come back, because for them Elijah meant trouble. Obviously, they could not, rather they did not want to see Elijah in the Baptist. And Jesus pointed it out on their face. 

For us today 'Elijah' would be those persons and situations that challenge us to greater commitment and total dedication. And 'John' would be those people who put us into a spiritual uneasiness by their witnessing life. At times we do not want to have anything to do with them. Worse still, we try to interpret their actions and attitudes to be too rude or pretentious,  thus writing them off from the public face. The worst, when we try to get rid of them, whatever it takes.

Look at the scenario today: the increasing compromises in Christian living and the senseless alienation of daily life from the Christian belief; duplicity of motivations in what we speak or do in the public domain; the underground discussions and partnerships that aim at toppling the righteous persons who burn with the fire of the Reign!

Let us keep the figures of Elijah and John in our minds for a practical and concrete dedication towards our call to be people of the Reign. Let us recognise willingly people with such fire within them! Even if we are not one of them, at least let us  learn to face them... let us learn to face the fire, with holy awe!

To find your depth...

THE WORD IN ADVENT

December 11, 2020: 2nd Friday in Advent

Isaiah 48: 17-19; Matthew 11:16-19

If only you were... we use this expression very often when communicating our disappointment over someone. Today the Lord uses it in relation to the people of Israel...if only you had listened to me, and proved a little more faithful! There is a spark of an inspiration from the first reading today, speaking of faithfulness to God being like waves! In fact the Gospel too takes off from there. 

Waves ebb and flow, come and go, rise and fall, proceed and recede...but look at them at their origins - the deep sea. There they are calm like a sleeping giant. That is what faithfulness to God is all about. Though you may be involved in frenetic activity and never ending responsibilities, never lose that inner serenity where your being truly resides. 

Jesus gives a beautiful allegory - like children who play, we live our lives with numerous expectations on the other and disappointments within. We expect and get disappointed; or we get anxious to meet the expectations of the other or others, and feel stressed out. Jesus is simply suggesting to us: can you just stop and ask yourself, what are you up to? What are you toiling for? What are you stressing yourself out for? What are you really trying to prove and to whom? 

Jesus has this to tell us today: you have nothing to prove! You are what you are in the depth of your being. Discover that, realise that, and try to live that to the full. Do not get lost in the externals of show and appreciation or disappointments and critiques. You can do that only when you are able to find your depths. That is why the key to a truly 'happy' life, is finding your real depth and getting truly in touch with it.