THE EASTER LESSON OF HOPE

Repent, Decide and Witness

April 18, 2021: 3rd Sunday of Easter 

Acts 3:13-15,17-19; 1 John 2:1-5; Luke 24: 35-48

Easter is the highest celebration of hope, and hope is the core message of Easter! This is a known fact. Easter is a celebration of hope, hope that the Risen Lord brings into our life - by the very fact that Jesus Christ has overcome death, overcome the world and reigns supreme and we have inherited that hope in the Spirit, through our baptism. We too have overcome death - death is no more the end of our life, it is but a transformation to new eternal life. We too have overcome the world - in Jesus our Lord we are new creatures, new beings, new persons and we are called to that newness of life in the Risen Lord. We are rulers, we reign in the name of Christ, in the power that Christ has obtained for us as children of God. Hence, come what may - troubles and trials in life, crises and confusions around, death and disease right in front of our eyes, nothing, absolutely nothing can perturb us: Peace be with you, says the Lord. I have overcome the world, I have overcome death and I am with you! This is the Message of Hope that Easter gives - how much needed it is in the context of fear and false promises all around us during these pandemic times! 

But the Message of Hope is not automatic! Yes, Jesus has overcome the world, overcome death, defeated evil - but that is no guarantee that I would automatically overcome death, win over evil and stand firm for eternal life. No. This hope that Jesus gives, has to be personalised, received, believed in, grown into, made my own, and practised in my daily concrete life! That is the lesson that the Risen Word gives us this Sunday: the Easter lesson of Hope

Lesson 1: Even if you did without knowing, you need to Repent for your wrong doings.

Father forgive them, for they know now what they do, prayed Jesus. Peter says today in the first reading, 'we know neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; this was the way God carried out what God had foretold,' but however he says, 'you must repent and turn to God.' Forgiveness is given to those who repent, it is not a right; it is a gift; a gift that is received only by those who truly behold it, make themselves worthy of beholding it - the prerequisite is repentance! That is what happens to the prodigal son - he repented and he received the forgiveness from the father. That is what the elder son missed - he failed to repent and never entered the joy of the father! 

God in God's magnanimity has mercy on us children and deigns to excuse us saying, after all you are my children! But we on our part have to be ready and willing to repent of our ways, or that forgiveness that is freely given can never reach us; we would ourselves build a barricade blocking its coming. The Lord is ready to shine God's face on us that we have light and life for eternity, but we need to turn towards the light to received it, to behold it and to be illumined by it. That is the basis of hope! Hope is not something that is given to us, without our effort - it is our effort to understand our unworthiness, without giving into despair. Yes, I am an unworthy sinner, but I can never be lost, for my Father and Mother, the Shepherd of my soul is abundantly merciful.

Lesson 2: Repenting is Deciding to keep God's Commandments

At times repenting is explained and understood in romantic forms and imaginative metaphors! But John strikes the root and puts it in simple, straightforward words: 'anyone who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments, is a liar!' Keeping God's commandments, is the easiest touchstone to conversion, to repentance. You cannot say, I have repented but I will not forgive; I have converted, but I will not love my difficult neighbour; I am a person of God, but I cannot relate to my brother or sister, or take care of a needy person next to me! What are you, but a liar! You cannot justifiy, prove or even claim that you have repented, if these fruits are not seen in you: the fundamental of the fruits - keeping God's commanments.

Hope is not some imaginary state of life; it is the guarantee of goodness created by my conversion of heart towards God. When I convert myself, there is one problem less in the world, they say! When I repent and decide to do what God wants me, there is one more guarantee for goodness, for virtue, for God's will to be done: that is Hope! We need to fill this world with hope: not by doing extraordinary feats of prophetic nature, but by simple submission to God's will, by humble obedience to God's commandments. It requires that I keep my ego, selfishness, arrogance and pride away and return to God as a child, simple and humble., ready to keep God's commandments. 

Lesson 3: Be Witnesses to the Nations and spread Hope

Jesus appears to the disciples repeatedly and gives them signs of his real presence amidst them, not merely to make them feel good, but to strengthen them to go out and be witnesses all over the world. That is what happened - the message of Hope that Jesus gave them, had to spread: it spread, far and wide, in spite of the unworthy, ill-prepared, underqualified, fear stricken persons that the apostles and disciples were. This was due to the assurance of Hope that Jesus gave them, that hope to which he wanted them to be witness and bear testimony in front of the entire world. 

In the hope-draining situation of this pandemic today, how hope-filled are we, how hope-emanating are we, how hope-witnessing are we? If we were easter people, we would effuse hope from within, not fear; we would take others by surprise with our proaction not put them off by our reactions; we would make a difference in our daily concrete lives and not be swayed by the contradicting, lopsided, manipulated, and illogical claims of many with vested interests. But neither can we give into a naive negationism or switch to rebellious separationism! We need to be witnesses to Hope, witnesses that inspire persons to get up and walk; to open their mouths and speak; to tune their ears and hear; to stretch their hands and embrace each other giving Hope.

We are made easter people; people of hope; people of light; people of eternal life... we would do well to repent, decide and witness to the enormous hope of the Risen Saviour.

The stir in the sea: Complaints

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

April 17, 2021: Acts 6: 1-6; John 6: 16-21

When we get together, we will surely have misgivings and clash of opinions, unless we fail to think freely and forget our individuality. As long as each one has the capacity to think for oneself, and the freedom to express oneself, there are bound to be misgivings - but without these, the conditions are not human at all! We see in the first reading today the earliest of misunderstandings and complaints that arose in the new born church! The way the apostles dealt with it, was so Christ-like. 

When the sea was stirred with the storm that arose, and the hearts of those in the boat were disturbed too, Jesus walked up to them and said: It is I; do not be afraid. He assured them, the stirring will cause no damage, if you understand the Lord is with you. The storm will not upset the boat, until you know that it is the Lord who is in charge! 

When the complaints came up and accusing fingers pointed at each other, the Apostles were not alarmed, they were not reacting to the complaint, they did not try their best to silence the dissenting voices or command everyone to compliance. They knew that it was a sign the Lord was giving them, for their own growth and for a sense of transcendence. 

Confusions, complaints and contradictory opinions were instrumental moments through which the Lord effected solid evolution in the Christian faith experience post resurrection. Individual convictions, daring discussions, evolving mindsets...these are signs of growth. At times we can get threatened and have recourse to control and oppression - be it in families or in larger communities. That is not truly a Christ-like mentality. In the parish communities, or in the basic christian communities, or religious communities, or in the families, how do we look at differences of opinions? Is there a true freedom of expression? Are we matured enough to look at these as experiences of growth? 

That requires a true mindset of faith. Amidst the stir in the sea, the Lord walks up to us saying: fear not, it's I. 

The test of time - Endurance!

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

April 16, 2021: Acts 5: 34-42; John 6: 1-15

One term that unites the two readings today is the term, "test." Jesus himself is tested with such a big number to feed. He tests his disciples with a task given them. And in the first reading we have Gamaliel setting up a test of time for the believers! All of these are tests that bring out the quality of Endurance. 

Jesus could have very well said, let the people go and find their own means of food, after all they came on their own; they were not obliged to come! Won't we do that, when we plan some activities for others or in ministry? But that would have been on Jesus' part, an escapism! When Jesus asked the disciples where they could buy bread for the crowds, they could have easily said it wasn't possible! Or later in the Acts of the Apostles, when they were threatened and jailed, the disciples could have, at the first instance said, why should we break our head over the salvation of these people! That would have been shirking the responsibility given to them. As a community the first Christians could have remained calm, quiet and comfortable within their small circle loving each other and fending for each other. But that was not to be the case!

If Jesus were to have taken an escapist mode of reaction to the situation, or the disciples the shirking mode, or the first believers a comfort seeking compromise mode... we would have nothing of what we believe and belong to today. The revelation of the limitless love of God in the person of Jesus, the Christian community that experienced that love and handed it down to the generations, the prophetic presence of the Church, as the sacrament of God's salvific love - these are grand signs of a simple decision that Jesus, the disciples and the community took - to endure the test!

Endurance is the time tested virtue that enables us to stand the test of time. The Martyrs of old, great saints in history, the holy ones of our times, all of them stand proofs to one fact: Endurance helps faith mature and endurance is a mark of a mature faith! Our faith is true, strong and alive, only in as much as it endures, especially the test of time!

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Obedience: the promptings of the Spirit

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

April 15, 2021: Acts 5:27-33; John 3: 31-36

We must obey God rather than men; we must obey God's directions rather than men's directives; we must obey the promptings of the Spirit rather than the rulings of men! What a clarity on the part of the disciples. If only we had today that same clarity! But it could be problematic too, as evidenced in these COVID times in many places! It is a dilemma that we face, think along!

Do not conform to the standards of the world; rather renewed in Spirit conform to the mind of Christ, instructed St. Paul well in this line (cf. Rom 12:2). At times we justify conformity and compromise on the grounds of "peace in the house"; other times we create division and sport rebellion under the pretext of being unique and convinced, while it could just be a way of promoting one's own convenience! Our own innermost self is our judge, and of course the one who resides there: the Spirit of the Lord!

Today, with the pandemic situation and the measures to contain it, there are governments and the international organisations that are tending to make rules and controls, forcing people at large to obey, at times even blackmailing masses into submission. What are we to do? Does out religiosity, our faith, our spirituality, come into play in this scenario? They have to. If not, what are they for?

So, do we abide by what they say or do we not? The question is - not whether we need to abide or we need not; but whether we can think logically or not; whether we can spiritually reason out or not; whether with the help of the Spirit, we can think holistically or not! Not with selfish concerns and sub-human criteria, but with true Spirit-filled mindset and truly all-embracing mindset, what is our judgement of things that are being said and being forced on us? It is not conformity or non-conformity, but our sense of faith and sense of clarity based on the wisdom of the Spirit!

Obedience is not merely conformity to the rule; nor its opposite mere negligence of the rule. It is all about being sincere to the innermost promptings of the Spirit. Being understood when one follows that promptings, is not always guaranteed. Being misunderstood cannot prevent me from being sincere to those promptings. One who obeys will see life (cf. Jn 3:36).

The Spirit Frees - Towards Light!

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

April 14, 2021: Acts 5: 17-26; John 3:16-21

From the prison to freedom, from the chains to an unfettered spirit, from fear to total commitment... the Spirit strengthens one to walk towards the light! The disciples were a transformed lot... they were the same who ran away when Jesus was arrested; the ones who denied and betrayed when there were pressures; the ones who closed themselves up for fear of the Jews who killed Jesus...but now, they are totally different!

They were standing up in public places and speaking up; they were answering the authorities back and affirming their connection to Jesus the Christ; they did things that were controversial and vouched for it and claimed responsibility; they were arrested and they expressed happiness about it; they were warned and threatened, and they cared nothing about it... they were a transformed lot! They stood for truth - to which Jesus said he came to bear witness; the truth that Jesus claimed that he was! They stood for that same truth!

At times truth hurts and at times it costs much, but if in the Spirit, we would count nothing too demanding! This is what they learnt from Christ, understood in the Spirit and lived in their concrete lives. They were ready to give up anything...their safety, their comfort, and even their lives.

Even today, people like Bro. Mario of Chalakudi fame, who have risked their lives for the sake of Christ... and many others similar, but not known in the public forum, are living illustrations of the episode from Acts that we read today. A youngster known to me, whom I consider a great inspiration to me, born in a hindu family, but chose to be a Christian and chose to become a priest and threw his well paid engineering job in a firm and disappeared from his family, to join a religious congregation, because they were mad at him in the family.

If I have the courage to see the Truth, accept it and live for it, nothing can stop me, not even death; because I have within me eternal life. And the Spirit is Truth, truth is light...in the Spirit, I am constantly moving towards the Light!

The Key: From Above

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

April 13, 2021: Acts 4: 32-37; John 3: 7b-15

The first Christian Community gives us a challenging example today, a prophetic witness! Just imagine that to be the state of our parish communities, or our basic christian communities...or even the Religious Communities of Consecrated life... can this model be emulated today? It is easy to brush it aside, calling it an outdated model, or an impractical ideal, or an utopian imagination, or a time proven failure! Call whatever you may, the challenge remains.

Along with the challenge there is also a doubt that lingers on: could they have really lived that way! Really! Sometimes youngsters dare ask that question aloud too, when we have sessions or seminars! Isn't it an exaggeration, a kind of figure of speech that hightens the reality for the sake of creating the appeal that is intended? The answer is, a categorical NO. They lived that way! The records are true and the records are not only in the Bible...they were also historical communities which caused the many a eyebrow raise! 

Jesus provides us with the key to the challenge, that is the secret which helped them live that way: it is, to live your life as if from above. We have received our life and everything in life as a gift from above. And when it is time for us to report back from where we come, we will go without anything in our hands. When we see things from above then, we would laugh at our folly as does the Lord now from heaven (see Ps 2:4). 

This was the fact...the early Christian community saw Jesus live and come back to life and go back to his Father...they expected him to come back shortly...even while they were still living. That is why they were prepared at anytime to report to the Lord...this gives us the clue how they managed to live such a detached life. Though it seems a reduction of their high noble ideals, the fact is clear: they were living a life from above!

Just look at your life, as you live it today, just from a little above! You will understand how foolish we can be... with our attachments and avarice, jealousy and treachery, ego and selfishness, and every other inhumanity for the sake of things that do not matter at all! Have we not totally lost the real sense of our lives? 

Let us remember the key given to us by Christ: live your life as from above. Learn to look at life from above and you will have a clear picture of what is important and what not!

To be shaken and to shake up!

WORD 2day: Monday, 2nd week of Easter

April 12, 2021: Acts 4: 23-31; John 3: 1-8

A fundamental requirement to be born again is to be shaken up! When the Spirit of the Lord stirs hearts and souls, a new being is born and that new being is what Jesus proposes today as the being born again; being born of the Spirit. The Spirit gives birth to us - it is in blowing God's Spirit that we were created. And it is the same Spirit that can give us the rebirth, by a new breath that comes from God. We need the new life in Christ, a new birth in the Risen Lord, becoming new creations in the Spirit.

Becoming new creations in the Spirit is not some allegoric or analogical figure of speech, it is a real and concrete demand placed on us - to change, to transform, to convert ourselves constantly towards a mindset that is proper to the One who has chosen and called us. As St. Paul would time and again remind us that we cannot conform to the world, but become new creations in Christ, that is to have the mentality, the mindset, the perspective that  Christ carried within himself. 

This transformation cannot happen unless we are shaken up, the Spirit. Anyone who is not filled with the Spirit cannot recognise the Son of God as his or her saviour! One who finds and accepts the Son of God as the Risen Saviour, cannot but be encompassed by the Spirit, the Spirit which gives us new life - everyday and every moment.  

As individuals, as families, as faith communities we need to shake ourselves up, allow ourselves to be shaken up and thus shake up each other, towards being what we are created to be, called to be and commissoned to be. Allowing the Spirit to influence us in whatever are involved, following the promtings of the Spirit in every action or decision we take, letting ourselves be guided by the spirit in every moment of discernment is the sign of people shaken up by the Spirit. When we begin to transform ourselves so, we shall experience what it means to see the community around us being shaken! To be shaken and to shake up the world is the call that we have from the Risen Lord - are we listening?

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?