A Spirituality true to Christ

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 5th week in Ordinary time

February 9, 2021: Genesis 1:20 - 2:4a; Mark 7: 1-13

The Word today invites us to understand the true Christian spirituality. Spirituality itself is a sense of being connected to everything and everybody. And further still, Christ's, Christ-like and Christian Spirituality is a sense of feeling an obligation to love people, fend for their good, be interested in their well being and spend oneself for the happiness and well being of the other. 

A true Christ-ian spirituality cannot be merely a dry or rigid performance of rituals and lifeless obedience to rules and commandments. It is about persons and relationships... the person of Christ and one's relationship with him; the persons who are around and one's relationship with them in Christ. It is all about that relationship that cares for each other - in a holistic sense, it is all about love.  

Christ's spirituality consists predominantly of love: which is to go out of one's way to make the other feel cared for; it is to wish the good of the other always in spite of the troubles and inconveniences for oneself. Just imagine if today anyone, even those who claim to love each other, would fit into this definition of love. 

If you would,  you are well on your way in mastering Christ's spirituality.

As many as touched were healed!

WORD 2day: Monday, 5th week in Ordinary time

February 8, 2021: Genesis 1: 1-19; Mark 6: 53-56

As many as touched were healed... it did not matter whether they touched the Lord or the Lord touched them, they were healed. Both ways it is an act of faith: to touch the Lord and to allow the Lord to touch us! What a challenging invitation we have from the Word today - to touch the Lord in the core of our being, or to remain open to the Lord that the Lord may touch us! 

'Speak Lord, but a word and my soul shall be healed,' we pray! A word, a touch, a glimpse or a gaze, a whisper... that is all that it takes for us to receive the fullness, from the hands of the Lord who has made us and continues to guard and protect us. But how many blocks and abysses we create between the Lord and ourselves (Isa 59:2), not allowing the grace of God to reach us, not permitting the touch of the Lord to heal us, not remaining open to the Word of the Lord to form and transform us!

All that we need to know is to understand that we are handiworks of the Master Creator and live our lives according to the mind of the One who has loved us into existence with a well defined purpose and an eternal plan. How prepared are we to allow the Lord to touch us? How eager are we to touch the Lord with all sincerity of heart? Because, when the Lord touches, nothing remains the same; they change, they transform, they are recreated!

Send forth your Spirit, O Lord and the World shall be recreated!

LIVE LIFE CHRIST-LIKE

The 3P Recipe: Proclaim, Practice and be Prepared!

February 7, 2021: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Job 7:1-4,6,7; 1 Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22,23; Mark 1: 29-39

Remember those words of Mahatma Gandhi - "I like your Christ; but I don’t like you Christians. Because you Christians are so unlike your Christ." That great man had the clue to what it meant to be Christians - it is to be Christ-like!

To Live Life Christ-like... that is the call that the Word gives us this Sunday. To live for the Gospel, to live for the Reign, to live for the People of God and to love everyone with all your heart and soul: that is the life task given to you and me, and to everyone called in the name of Christ.

PROCLAIM:

Proclaim to the world that God is love! Live that love and spread it around, a true and genuine love that does not possess but a love that brings the whole world together. A love that reaches out, heals, frees, unites, enhances, enriches and rends every one whole. We hear a lot of voices today, that claim to be "christian" but speak of things other than love: they speak of condemnation, they speak of vengeance, they speak of violence, they speak of closing in, they speak of rejection of people, they speak of convenience rather than conviction, they speak of killing, they speak of establishing supremacies... are they truly Christian?

Proclaim, yes! But proclaim what? ...proclaim love, proclaim peace, proclaim wholeness - only that is Christ-like! When you proclaim that, you will have trouble. Because there are forces that stand for a heartless egoism, selfish development, inhuman exploitation and unbridled avarice! Now you will become the odd one out, when you speak of love and live for it. But still you will do it: because that is what you are called for - to live life Christ-like!

PRACTICE:

There is no great virtue in proclaiming alone! Today there are hundreds who are into it. Specially in those covid-stricken days, youtube channels and online sessions have proliferated. There are hundreds who are craving to proclaim, of course each with his or her own agenda! But which of these is truly Christ-like? To find that, one has to answer three questions -

First of all, to which band do I belong? Am I truly an apostle of love? Only I can answer the question regarding the deepest motivations of my soul. I may be ‘Christian’ by name, I may even appear to be so - but whether I am or not in reality, only I know, apart from the Lord who knows everything!

Secondly, if I proclaim the message of the Reign, the Gospel of love, does my style of life coincide with the proclamation. In simple words, do I walk the talk? Is there that moral integrity within me because of which I can command the evil forces with authority and they will go silenced before me! The authority that Jesus had before the demons and all other forces that challenged the wholeness of life, came from the fact that there was absolutely no discrepancy between what he proclaimed and what he practised. Can I command the same respect or authority?

Thirdly, if I identify myself with Christ and Christ's message, what do I do on a daily basis to justify my identity, stay relevant to my self-claim and be counted in that number? Will my lifestyle speak before my words ever leave my tongue? Will the values I stand for, make me stand before the Lord or cringe at His sight? Have I felt the burden of the Reign within my heart, an urgency that unsettles my heart, a passion that sets me afire?

PREPARE:

If I really take these questions seriously, and their responses, I will certainly be identified a Christian – but today that is not a great boon! The world despises what seems religious or spiritual. The world finds it offensive to hold on to your identity as a person of faith and a person of a spiritual lifestyle. There are the so-called ‘seculars’ who feel, it is infantile to speak of God or Church or practices of piety or virtues or ethics or values or standards of righteousness in life. There are those who think it is old fashioned to insist on heaven, hell, purgatory, last judgement, and the call to live a saintly life! What is my response? What would I say? Am I prepared?

May be today, the call that the Word gives us: to live life Christ-like, comes as a challenge. Are we living a life that is congruent to the message we are called to proclaim? Are we prepared to face the consequences of a choice of that kind – to live life Christ-like!

Doing good is doing God's will

THE WORD AND THE SAINTS

February 6, 2021: Gosalo Garcia and others

Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21; Mark 6: 30-34

In the recent weeks we have been remembering saints, blesseds and martyrs connected to India. Bl. Devasagayam, St. Joseph Vaz, John de Britto and today it is Gonsalo Garcia. Though in the Universal Catholic Church it is commemorated as Paul Miki and companions, for us in India it would be just and right to focus on Gonsalo Garcia, who was part of that company of missionaries who were crucified in Nagasaki, in the year 1597, for the sake of the Word and for the Kingdom of God.

Some interesting facts about St. Gonsalo: he was born of a Portuguese father and an Indian mother. He left India when he was 15. He was among the 26 missionaries killed in Nagasaki, Japan. The Franciscan expedition of missionaries took Gonsalo Garcia, who was just lately accepted as a Third Order Minor into their congregation, because he wanted to go out as a missionary of the Lord.

The Gospel presents to us a picture of a missionary of the Lord - frenetic activity for sake of the Kingdom! The disciples are all intent on doing good, as their Master himself who went around doing good. At times we can be at a loss deciding what is God's will at a point of time. The readings today seem to suggest one simple criterion: do good to others; do good to as many as possible; do good to all!

God is the shepherd who knows our needs and cares for them, but God does it through God's sons and daughters who become shepherds in turn. We are called to be the sheep of God's flock but at the same time to grow to be shepherds to each other, doing as much good as we could to each other. That would be the easiest way of experiencing the continued presence of God.

Moral Code or Spiritual Integrity?

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

February 5, 2021: Hebrews 13: 1-8; Mark 6:14-29

Is following a moral code enough to be a Christian? Moral codes are temporal and spatial- that is, what is wrong at one time may not be so at another time; what is right in a place may not be so elsewhere! Isn't it true? Killing a cow may be a disputed thing in India (though merely for a small group, not even the majority!), but elsewhere that is one of the major part of the regular diet! Once capital punishment was tolerated by the Church teaching as an extreme measure towards maintaining peace and justice, but today the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not even consider it a possible measure! These are natural and normal evolutions and diversities of reality. But there is a question that arises from here.

If all of us are formed from, and moving towards, the same Divine Being, then can our life style be so subjective? That is why Jesus always stood by Spiritual Integrity rather than a set of moral precepts. Integrity contains within it not only all dimensions of life, but even time, space, geography and history! It never changes, for it is associated to the One Eternal Being, who is the fullness of all that is good, God.

Jesus is same, yesterday, today and tomorrow! No time can change what Jesus stood for. The letter to the Hebrews presents to us a set of values which are not merely moral codes but are frameworks for spiritual integrity. Spiritual Integrity is knowing what is right to be done, being convinced of it and living by it, come what may. Even if we have to face extinction from this life, our stand shall not change. Just as John the Baptist who was ready to give up even his life. 

But how do we know what we are holding on to is right? That is where we need to be divinely informed, where we need the grace, the help of the Holy Spirit to hold on to eternally life-giving perspectives. May the Spirit always illumine us!

Are we truly Christian?

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

February 4, 2021: St. John de Britto: The Red Sand Martyr

Hebrews 12: 18-19,21-24; Mark 6: 7-13

John de Britto, a Jesuit Missionary, who formed part of the famous Madurai Mission, arrived in India in 1673 and was imprisoned in 1684 and deported back to Lisbon, Portugal in 1687. However he came back to India in 1690 and was killed in 1693!

An information to those not from India or South India: the place where John de Britto (Arulanandar) was killed, situated in the diocese of Sivagangai, is called Oriyur! The sand in the particular field where he was allegedly killed, has a texture totally red, so strange to the terrain around! It is considered a miraculous phenomenon and is seen and experienced even today!

A challenge to those from India, especially South India: The feast of John de Britto does not only bring to our mind the wonderful gift that we have received from the Lord through missionaries such as these, it also brings to mind the bitter memories of things that have taken place in the region in the past decade. There is no need to narrate them here or delve deep into them, as the local faithful know it well: the challenge that is very clear - A Church that is divided on the lines of caste, cannot be truly CHRISTIAN. Any number of reasons can never justify dividing a church on those grounds or having internal fights on the basis of caste or clan! 

The Word instructs us on similar lines. When the Lord tell his disciples and apostles, not to take anything with them, he means it. Not to take the baggages of  the background, the race, the colour, the caste, the clan, the tribe, the status, the symbols...nothing to be taken! All that matters is the Reign...which as the letter to the Hebrews explains, "is nothing known to the senses." Every Christian is called and challenged to uphold this grandiose mystery of the Reign...but the question is : Are we truly Christian?

Drooping hands and weak knees or Faith Alive?

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

February 3, 2021: Hebrew 12:4-7,11-15; Mark 6:1-6

God is all powerful except before our free will... it is not that God is incapable but God has chosen to implant that freedom which is God's own image and likeness within us. At times we may feel we are afflicted but we are not without the means to withstand them. We have within us the necessary strength to stand up to these. At no time are we faced with a trial that is more than our capacity. That is the promise of the Word. God doesn't allow us to be tested beyond our capacity, says St. Paul (1 Cor 10:13).

However, there is one thing that can drive us to despair... the drooping hands and weak knees. 

Drooping hands symbolise my lack of faith in the capacity God has placed within me. It is giving up, giving up too easily on efforts towards perfection. It is said, a mistake after the second time is a decision! In our journey towards growth and perfection, what counts is not how fast we make a choice for good, but how steadfast we are to that choice and how enduring our choice remains.

Weak knees symbolise lack of dependence on God. When things go wrong, and life seems out of hand for all practical reasons, we tend to give up mainly because we think we are at things all by ourselves. At moments of crisis we find ourselves helpless, because we do not perceive the Lord who is so close to us  and so concerned about us - just like those who were not able to see Christ, in Jesus!

Finally the question is, what do you choose: drooping hands and weak knees or a Faith alive?

Tests, Results and the Marks

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

February 2, 2021: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 2: 22-40

Do not bring us to the test we pray, but our life is full of tests. The tests at school and colleges, the tests for jobs, the tests in the family by the spouses on each other, the parents on children and vice versa, the tests in the social living with all the crises that is around; and as if these are not enough, in this pandemic times - all the tests that are spoken of! Our life is filled with tests. But, it is in and through these tests, the true quality of our life is brought to the fore. Mary at the temple today stands model to this brave spirit of a God-filled person - having faced tests and fared truly well.

Much more than the results of the tests, what matters is the manner in which we go through it. What dominates: anxiety? tension? uncertainty? looking for evasive means? giving into manipulations? 

Tests in life, are not mere situations to be overcome, but are experiences to learn from. The true result of these tests, is not whether you succeed or not; but that you come out of it better, refined, polished, purified, and made more whole. St. Joseph after every crisis that he faces comes out more flexible at the hands of God. Another serene example.

The marks of these tests should be seen in your capacity to offer yourself into God's hands more and more. The effect of the tests could either make you stronger or break your spirit... the mark of a God-filled person is to come out of it ever more stronger in his or her will to surrender to the Lord. That child presented today at the temple, will grow up to be the best ever example of someone who grew out of every test and remained faithful to his consecration!

Who is your hero?

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

February 1, 2021: Hebrew 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20

There is a book with an interesting title, 'even God has His champions!' It speaks of 120 saints and martyrs in history who have borne God's message to the world of their times. 

The first reading from the letter to the Hebrews lists today a set of heroes, heroes of valour and vigour, heroes in history on whom the people pinned their hopes! But the letter adds an important but realistic twist... these heroes, they were all gone in the way of their fathers. That is an inevitable fact. However good or great they are, they are to be gone in time! 

Today we too have our own heroes - persons or role models or absolute values or needs or priorities - heroes of various kind. It is important to ask ourselves who is our hero and what becomes the defining value of our lives!

With what Jesus did to the people of Gerasenes, they should have made him their hero. Jesus solved their years of problem in a moment. He just sent the legion of demons away from their living quarters...but was Jesus their hero? No! They asked Jesus to leave - may be because they felt their loss (of the swines) was too much to bear! No, they had some other things as their hero - not exactly what Jesus could offer them. 

The crucial question is back: who is your hero?

ABSOLUTE ALLEGIANCE TO THE ALMIGHTY

like children who cling to their parents...

January 31, 2021: 4th Sunday in the Ordinary Time
Deuteronomy 18: 15-20; 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28

It was a home for street kids. As I entered, a calendar caught my attention. It had the words running thus: with the young missionaries of hope and joy. I hoped to see some young religious in formation or some people getting ready to go on a mission. But the picture that accompanied it was more surprising. It was a click of a bunch of street kids with eyes all shining and faces beaming with smiles. They had called them 'missionaries of hope and joy.' Today's first reading came alive to me when I saw this. When the Lord said, the Lord would raise a prophet as good as Moses and that prophet was not only Jesus who did great wonders when he was still alive but in and through Jesus, it is you and I who are called to be prophets today, here and now. 

The second reading points to us the way of being powerful prophets of God... and the way is, an absolute allegiance to the almighty. To profess our allegiance to God with nothing to distract us, nothing to preoccupy us, nothing to hinder our speaking God's word or doing God's works. Today there are any number of conspiracy theories and ideological conflicts, along with the unfortunate things that are happening to humanity and to the whole existence. Regardless of who sounds more logical and what provides more stuff to imagination, our allegiance needs to be to the Almighty and it needs to be Absolute! When that happens each of us become a prophet in our own lives. 

The Apostle speaks of an undivided attention to the Lord - though it upholds the value of celibacy as such, it can be lived in every walk of life. When the right priorities are in place in our personal, family and community life, and these priorities are considered absolute, then we live a life that is inspiring, witnessing and prophetic.

The Gospel presents to us the model par excellence of a prophet of God: the very Son of God who professes and practices such a perfect allegiance to God that every one who saw him, heard him was either taken up or felt threatened. His was an authority that came from his personal integrity and flawless faithfulness to God. 

Our absolute allegiance to the almighty will make us like children who trust and depend totally on their parents. At times even a blind following of the directions given by God would suffice for us to work on our Sanctification and that of those around us.