MERCY IN THE MILLENNIAL WORLD

The need to overcome the world !?!

April 11, 2021: 2nd Sunday in Easter Time 

The Sunday of the Divine Mercy

Acts 4: 32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20: 19-31

Celebrated as the Divine Mercy Sunday, the second Sunday of Easter time or the Low Sunday of the Easter Octave, reminds us of the importance of the image of Christ as the Mercy of God. This is probably the reason why the Saintly Holy Father, Pope John Paul II chose this day, when he wanted to institute a feast for the Divine Mercy revealed to the world through Sr. Faustina. This revelation that came about in the twentieth century, is as important as the revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus made through Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century. The message however is the same - God's boundless and merciful love. This image of Christ as the Mercy of God, should be second to none other than the image of the Risen Lord, for a Christian - that is in short what the Church wishes us to understand. 

Pope Francis, in these 8 years of his pontificate has reiterated again and again about the primacy of the Mercy of God - he has insisted that the identity of every Christian, the identity of the Christian Community, the purpose of the mission of the Church, and the goal of every evangelising activity should invariably be the Mercy of God. When he announced the year of Mercy and called every son and daughter of the Church to be merciful as the Father, what he intended to achieve was the same: to make of us people of mercy. Being people of mercy is our call, there is no doubt about it. But the question arises whether it is really possible, when we look around and consider seriously, the kind of world we live in!

"I have overcome the world," says Jesus, and continues, "if you accept me as the Saviour, you have overcome the world too!" That is the crux of the second reading and that leaves us with a serious question: is there a need to overcome the world? There was a time in philosophy and theology, people spoke of two diametrically opposed realities - good and evil, righteousness and sin, pure and profane, and in the same logic, spiritual and worldly...as if to say, what pertained to the Spirit did not pertain to the world and what pertained to the world was to be shunned and overthrown. In that logic, overcoming the world made sense! But have we not grown in our thinking? Have we not become more balanced and holistic in our thinking...should we still be thinking of shunning the world, as if world is opposed to what is Spiritual and what pertains to God? Yes, we have grown. It is not a dichotomy that we promote when we speak of overcoming the world - what we refer to here is more about the tendencies and modes of thinking, than the world or the earth or the creation. It is a mindset. Today's mindset can be referred to as a millennial mindset.

Millennial mindset, is that of development, progress, advancement and going forward. It cares only to fix goals and targets such as project 2020 (they have been talking about this for the past 3 decades and afterall 2020 just passed us by without any noise, all under the pandemic pressure!), or Goals 2030, or fancy names such as MDGs, SDGs, and what not! It is all about arriving somewhere...and for that we are ready to sacrifice anything, anyone and any value. Population seems to be rising, so do what you want it has to be brought under control - kill, abort, conspire, control, exploit, manipulate! Economic prosperity has to be achieved, so throw all liabilities out - even if they are persons - old, invalid, children, poor, weak, the so-called 'uncultured'. Science offers us progress and that has to be pursued, so experiment with whatever you wish - be it lives, living beings, the earth, the unborn lives, the uncared-for lives, the voiceless masses. This is the Millennial world that we are living in. Now think! What is mercy in this world?

The Risen Lord and the community that arose around him gives us, in the first reading and the Gospel today, three manifestations of true mercy in this millennial world - we would do good to pay heed.

The first manifestation of Mercy today  is Unity of Heart and Soul. It is not about the pacts signed and deals contracted at the international level smiling before the cameras and each one goes back and does what one wants. It is unity of heart and soul, the simplicity that is found in the Almighty, the same simplicity that the Almighty placed within us when we were created...that oneness...which was then broken into pieces by sinfulness and wickedness of the evil one. Oneness of heart and soul...feeling for the other, caring for the other, fending for the other, as for onself...that is oneness of heart and soul. This is mercy today in this millennial world. How many really care for every one, specially the suffering ones? We are more worried about what Bill Gates says, and what the millionnaire space tourists claim...where is the value of the individual persons here on earth? Fundamental rights are breached and persons are taken for granted. The moneyed and the powerful are having their way and making their wish become law for everyone else! Will the hearts and souls of goodwill unite?

The second manifestation of Mercy today is No one in want. Will we ever achieve this state? How many Governments and Non Governmental Organistion, Religious Orders and Social Service Organisations, National Bureaus and International Agencies have objectives like 'removal of poverty'... it should make us laugh out loud, to see this on paper! Mercy is merely a word, until even one in my vicinity is in want. Whom do we blame - the person himself or herself? the system? the policies? ...blame what you want, or blame all that you can, but the fact is, we are far from mercy. As people of God, in whichever way we can, we need to work in concrete towards this aim: no one in want, wherever we are. Let us not wait for multinational agencies and govermental bodies to intervene and change the situation, let us begin with DOING what is at hand, and making it a possible state of life: no one in want. Today, how many persons and communities, how many families, stand in need, affected by crises of varied kinds...the pandemic, the economic, the emotional and so on! What is our concrete response?

The third manifestation of Mercy today is Peace and Forgiveness. Jesus was not understood by his disciples. He was ditched by them and handed over to the enemies. He was killed by their treachery and insolent attitude. He rose, as he had already instructed them..and they did  not seem to believe. He came among them, they did not recognise and did not believe even when explained. One of them even asked for some childish signs and proofs. After all these what did Jesus offer them? Forgiveness and Peace! That is mercy, the unbounded love of God, the merciful embrace of the Father manifested in Jesus, the Christ. Peace, that comes from forgiveness, that is the fundamental offer of the Mercy of God. Today, how many stand in need of peace! How many wounded hearts need the gift of forgiveness and capacity to forgive! Are we in our own way, instruments of peace and forgiveness wherever we are, or are we creating more barriers and more blocks to unity of hearts and souls? Are we part of the problem or are we part of the solution?

Celebrating the Divine Mercy today - we need to resolve to be manifestation of mercy in this millennial world... overcoming its insensitivities, partialities, selfcentredness and inhumanities. Yes, we need to overcome the world, a mindset of this sort! And we can overcome, with the Merciful Lord on our side. Peace be with you, because I am with you says the Risen Lord to us today. Let us receive the Lord, and take the Lord to everyone in need of Mercy and Love.

From Obstinacy to Resolve - towards a liberating Surrender!

WORD 2day: Saturday within the Easter Octave

April 10, 2021: Acts 4: 13-21; Mark 16: 9-15

Jesus returned, but they recognised him not! He was a bit annoyed, as he used to be during his time with them in and around Judea. He also takes the liberty to rebuke them, because he knew they loved him, and he knew how much he loved them. It was for the same reason he did not reject them, but only rebuked them and their slowness to believe, in spite of the repeated signs and wonders that they were given with. 

That rightful rebuke reassured the disciples much and they came to a resolve, no one or nothing could affect them from then. No threats, no powers, no imprisonments, no lashes, no authority could stop them from proclaiming Christ because they were so powerfully taken up by that encounter with the Risen Christ. They knew he was with them every moment, as he had promised them!

Every day, the Risen Lord returns to us with a fresh proposal to live with us unceasingly; our obstinacy to hold on to various concerns in life, our blindness to the extraordinary love with which the Risen Lord approaches us, our failure to see through and observe in the events of life, the Lord who walks with us - these deserve a rebuke from the Lord. 

We live at times like obstinate little children, refusing to see the whole reality; we see only what we want to and we fail to see what we really need to. And from the little that we see, we interpret things and stay put there... thinking that we have figured it all out and we are on the right! How many mistakes, how many miscalculations, how many misinterpretations of events, how many misunderstandings of persons...why all these? Because we are obstinate on our point of view and want to see nothing else other than what we want to see! The Lord would scream at us, "why don't you open your eyes and see, for your own sakes!"

Let us move on... let us allow the Lord to show us the Lord's real presence with us. It would not matter, until we reach the resolve as did the apostles, to proclaim in our words and deeds, the Lord who has won us over. We are called to be witnesses, beginning from wherever we are to the ends of the world. 

Are we ready? Are we ready to move on from our childish obstinacy to a resolve to liberating surrender?

To be fire-filled, not fear-filled - the Easter effect

WORD 2day: Friday within the Easter Octave 

April 9, 2021: Acts 4: 1-12; John 21: 1-14

Today in the Word we see, there begins the next round of efforts to contain the Good news. When Jesus spoke of it, they killed him and heaved a big sigh thinking it was all over. Little did they imagine the problem was far from settled. The Reign of God is like the seed that a sower planted in his field, the Master had said... after a brief silence, it will certainly shoot up. We see the Sadducees and the Pharisees begin to feel the startles as they see the first signs of this sprouting. That was already too strong! 

From a fear-filled bunch of rugged Jews, the apostles turned out to be fire-filled upstarts, gradually shaping up to be formidable people of God, standing for and proclaiming the Good news, namely the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the World. The Truth could not be contained... in fact, it can never be, whatever you do! Truth is what is and it shall ever be so, whether you like it or not and one day, regardless of how long it takes, it will stand up, rise up, and show itself up!

The proclamation of the apostles and the disciples, was strong because it was accompanied by signs and wonders, as the Master himself had set the model. Walking on the Sea, hauling an impossibly large catch of fish...these were no new signs for the disciples. They were merely confirmations of the continued presence of the Lord who had lived and moved with them. The disciples would not allow themselves to be stopped by anyone or anything. Soon we will begin to hear the violence that was unleashed against the new movement of the Risen Lord. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop them from their commitment to proclaim the Lord. That was an formidable Easter effect! 

Today, amidst the fear that is spread of this anti-human phenomenon of the pandemic, the other more dangerous ills that are these days forgotten and given a free ride into humanity (because everyoone is worried about the pandemic which no one really understands)... if we wish to be Easter people, let our life be a proclamation and a proclamation that is accompanied by signs and wonders: signs that stand counter to the self centered standards of the world today; and wonders that make people see the love and mercy of God in and through us! 

For that we need to sport with pride the Easter effect: to be Fire-filled and not fear-filled!

Listen to the Word Alive - the Easter-mindset

WORD 2day: Thursday within the Easter Octave 

April 8, 2021: Acts 3: 11-26; Luke 24:35-48

Understanding the Scriptures was an essential part of realising their identity for the disciples. From yesterday we read from Luke how the Risen Lord took upon himself the task of opening their minds to the Scriptures, because it was from that understanding that they were able to make sense of all that they were going through. Once clarified, their identity was extraordinarily strong and they accomplished feats that nobody would imagine. That is the power of clear and specific identity.

Hence a typical Easter-mindset is to Listen to the Word Alive. The Word made flesh, lived among them and they failed to completely grasp what was happening. When the Lord resurrected, they beheld the Word anew... now it was a Word that was fulfilled, accomplished in history, holding out to them new life and new meaning, an altogether new identity, a Word that was so Alive to the more than ever! It is the same Word Alive that speaks to us today - in the Scripture, the Sacraments and the Situation around. Are we listening?

Listening to the Word Alive, would mean looking at what is happening around me with the eyes that the Word would provide; hearing the cries of the helpless and the neglected as the Word would resound; feeling one with the suffering and the exploited as the Word would propose; taking on ourselves the struggles of the unfortunate and the downtrodden as the Word, in Christ Jesus, did. These should begin from the closest of our circles - let us say our families, our communities, our neighbourhood, our workplace colleagues and so on. These are not merely some acts, it is a mindset, an Easter-mindset that would define our very identity.

Yes, if we are truly listening to the Word, we would hear these questions posed to us: what is your identity? What does the Scripture say to you? Do you spend time listening to the Lord speak in and through the Scripture, the Sacrament and the Situation? Do you really seek to understand what the Lord wants of you today and strive to fulfill it? 

What is my mindset today?

To burn within - rekindling that fire!

WORD 2day: Wednesday within the Easter Octave

April 7, 2021: Acts 3: 1-10; Luke 24: 13-35 

The presence of the Risen Lord was felt in a concrete sense by the apostles and those around them. The Risen Lord was there as a fire within them, burning their hearts, warming up their relationships, firing up their commitments and lighting up their understanding. Their lives were touched by the Lord and not merely they, but all those who were around felt that touch. Haven't we heard from persons, saying about someone in a group, or a family - 'when he or she is around, we cannot but sense it. There is so much laughter and cheer!' That is a fine compliment to receive for an apostle of Christ!  

Aren't we called to be Easter people, radiating joy, radiating warmth, radiating light! That does not mean we would have no problems or no struggles! They would in fact abound. But that does not matter because we have within us a fire that is alive, burning and igniting every part of our selves - the fire of the Risen Lord. Some of us may be burning, some of us would have been burning once in our life, or some of us have always been wishing to burn with that fire of the Lord... let us remember, we have that fire always with us, ever within us. We just need to rekindle it.

Once I received a message requesting prayers - the person said her marriage was broken, and that she found herself alone with her child. She could not go back to her family because she had entered into this marriage against all their wish! 'Why is God so blind to my problems,' she ended the message. I only enquired, if there were no indications when things were beginning to happen or was she negligent of those indications! However, even now she can confront her problems if only she draws strength from that fire that is within her - the presence of the Risen Lord! Can't she?

In fact, it is the case with every one of us. With that fire burning within our hearts, we can face any situation and find new lease of life within us and share the same with all around us. The source of life and energy, is within us and all that we need to do is, become aware of that source and connect to it; become aware of that fire within us and get closer to it, close enough that we can burn within us and set everyone around us affire! 

What do I do: Open up your heart!

WORD 2day: Tuesday within the Easter Octave

April 6, 2021:  Acts 2: 36-41; John 20: 11-18

'What are we to do?' ask the people cut to their heart! That is the first sign of a transformed people: being cut to the heart and wanting to do something about it. I remember a gathering of teachers that I addressed in the beginning of an academic year. There were over 200 of them and at the end of the meeting one teacher walked up to me and said: 'Fr. I want to do something... I just can't continue the way I am. Tell me now, what should I do?' And I gave him a suggestion, and now he is part of an Evangelisation Team, that was connected until 3 years ago!

Being cut to the heart - it can happen only when I open my heart! The Word is powerful, the living Word, the Risen Lord is powerful, yes. But I need to allow the Lord to touch me, to transform me! I need to allow the truth to penetrate my soul and my heart... it will never happen if I am busy proving myself, justifying myself and compromising my ways! My choice has to be radical and then I shall see that the Word shall cut through my heart. 

If we allow the Risen Lord to encounter us through the numerous ways the Lord usually does, we will be cut to our hearts! The Lord has a suggestion for the future course of action: Go and Announce! He would say he is going to the Father and would ask us to continue what he started. The disciples took it to heart and they did an enormous work... what about you and me today?

How frequently do we have this pressing question in our hearts: What are we to do? What am I to do? Is there some course of my life that I need to alter, in order that I may live my life to the full? There is no use lamenting on the past or counting the unhatched chicks of the future... I need to act today and I need to choose today! This is the Easter Call, to open our hearts, to ask that question: what do I do, and to resume our course towards living a life to the full!

Get back to Galilee - the Memory Saves!

WORD 2day: Monday within the Easter Octave

April 5, 2021: Acts 2: 14,22-33; Mt 28: 8-15

The conspiracy to malign the name of Jesus and his apostles had not stopped even after having had Jesus killed. Now after the resurrection, it gets more urgent and more intense, because the opponents were already feeling the mounting pressure. Jesus in his ever cool fashion tells his disciples to get back to Galilee- Galilee, where Jesus went about doing good, where Jesus was living and moving with them day in and day out, where Jesus was sharing their daily concerns and making them feel so cared for, loved and attended to.

The lesson for us is: at times of conspiracy, at times of troubles and uncertainties, what do we need to do? When all that we face is trouble and from every corner there is disouragement, what do we need to do? When the gloom that has befallen refuses to leave and burdens our shoulders and our minds, what do we need to do? The directive from the Word today is: Get back to Galilee!

Let us get back to Galilee: let us get back to the wonderful experiences we have had with Jesus. Let us get back to the basic lessons we have learnt from Jesus. Let us get back to the fundamental values that Jesus has always been offering us.Thus we will never be disoriented and we will see a light that will pierce through the present cloud. 

MEMORIES can serve as a boost for our spirit, but the same can pull us down to the drain. It all depends which of type of those we wish to keep alive. If we are Easter people, then we will keep alive the positive memories, the wholesome memories, the lovely memories, the memories that give life, memories that build up and memories that rejuvenate. This is the Easter Call today: to get back to Galilee...to fall back on the wonderful things that God has done for us, specially in times of our troubles!

HAPPY EASTER 2021

 

The Silence of the Tomb and the most powerful Word!

THE WORD IN THE HOLY WEEK

Another Passion Week amidst the Pandemic - the Silent Saturday

April 3, 2021: There is no Holy Mass on this day!

The Silent Saturday - the Church is silent, no public worship; the day is silent, nothing happens and everything seems to be in suspension; the Word is silent, there is no Mass celebrated this day; because Jesus, our Lord is silent, he is laid in the tomb; and God is silent, preparing something totally new for us! We are called to be in silence, waiting in hope! Though everything is silent, there is something that is powerful happening... in the silence of the tomb, this day, we hear the most powerful of all words: Hope! 

That is the word that the Lord wishes to tell us...even these days as we get through this pandemic...hope! Hope in the Lord and praise his still, my Saviour and my God is there for me, whatever happens. There may be a thousand arrows aimed against me or there may be a whole battalion that comes against me, but nothing can assail me, for I hope in the Lord, my God. That is the kind of hope we are challenged to possess and grow in...not just in moments when we feel so close to God and specially blessed by God. But more importantly in moments of darkness and drear, in the moments of struggle and confusion, in moments of pain and burden... in moments of grief and sadness...through the experience of the tomb!

This day teaches us and invites us to understand the language of silence... not anyone's silence, but the silence of God. The Silence of God is filled with messages, provided we are ready to pay heed and attend to what it communicates to us. These moments continuously speak to us and offer us the opportunity to look at the rest of our life's moments with focus and within a framework. If only we are able to sit in that silence...without filling it with our words, cries, laments and proposals to God! 

Jesus is in the tomb...the silence of the tomb is so piercing, so heavy and so laden. The women were worried about what was kept inside that tomb, the body of Christ; the apostles were worried about what would happen to them next; all those who followed Jesus were dumbstruck still trying to make sense of what has happened in a question of three days...after all the fanfare with which they received Jesus into the city... looked like everything came to a standstill... yes, it was still, it was silent, but not empty or hopeless... but there was a burdensome task of waiting. They had to wait on the Lord. 

We need to wait too, on the Lord, for very many answers to our questions. The Lord has every bit of answer to give us and this silence can provide an opportunity to arrive at those answers. But we need; to allow the silence to speak... speak those powerful word, the word that the Lord is getting ready for us: Hope! 

Cross: Salvific Suffering for the sake of the Other

THE WORD IN THE HOLY WEEK

Another Passion Week amidst the Pandemic - the Good Friday

April 2, 2021: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42

Thinking of the Cross in relation to the pandemic is no difficult thing, it syncs naturally. So many different crosses, directly due to the disease and the indirectly due to its related effects.  The disease itself, the strange symptoms and the stranger lines of action like quarantine and isolation, the loss of dear ones, the still unclear state of the virus and its nature, the power and control that the moneyed have over the rest of the world, the ironic fact of how both the rich and the poor are affected by it, the silent cries of the millions and economic crises of families as well as societies... all these are crosses that we have faced during the time of pandemic which is still going on and threatens to prolong itself much more!

Amidst such experiences, how do we make sense of the Cross? "...ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried' - the words of Isaiah that prefigured the passion of Christ, give us a clue to understand what a true Cross is. Cross is not any suffering. Cross is not merely any inconvenience experienced in any mode. Cross is salvific, a suffering or an inconvenience, that brings a salvific grace to you and to others, is what can be called a Cross: this is the lesson that Jesus on the Cross offers us today. 

Cross is Salvific. Not any suffering is a cross...what if I chose to do all the wrong things and as a conequence, I face the suffering - is that a cross, merely because it is a suffering? What if I knew well where it was taking me, still I either actively or passively submitted myself to things that were very clearly enslaving and entrapping - could the resultant sufferings be called a cross just because it tears my life asunder? What if I deliberately chose to be arrogant and self-centred and as a result I feel abandoned and alone, languishing in loneliness and pain - could it be called a cross just because it gives me pain and burden? No... these are not salvific, these are choices that I make and the consequences that I have incurred. Cross, though heavy and burdensome, elevates me, raises me up to experience the mighty presence of God. If it has to be so, then, Cross is submission to God's will and Cross is taken up for the sake of others!

Cross is submission to God's will: "Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering" says the letter to the Hebrews. "Not mine, but your will be done," prayed Jesus as he took up the will of God. Cross is suffering in submission to the will of God. It is transcending rebellion and complaint; it is growing up to see the salvific nature of a suffering because it is accepted in submission to God's will. During these days of suffering due to the pandemic and its aftermath, how prepared are we to submit ourselves to God and God's will? How prepared are we to see the presence of God, even through the dark valley of insecurity, incertitude and inadvertent sufferings?

Cross is taken up for the sake of others: The pandemic has taught us this - wearing the masks, is not for myself but for others; staying in quarantine is not primarily for myself, but for others; giving up the normal pleasures of life, like going for entertainment and recreation, is not for myself, but for others! Without looking at the practicality and rightness of these directives, when I am able to take it upon myself for the sake of the others, those inconveniences becomes salvific - that is truly a Cross, from Christ-ian point of view! When I am ready to bear the burden, go the extra mile, do an extra sacrifice, exert a little more my energy and suffer an unnecessary trouble for the sake of others, not for my own benefit, that is a Cross and it is salvific: it serves others and saves me! 

Today from the Cross the Lord speaks to us - for you I have taken up all these suffering! How much suffering are you prepared for, for the sake of the other? Cross, is the Salvific Suffering for the sake of the other... are you prepared?