The Spirit that makes us One!

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 7th week in Easter time

May 19, 2021: Acts 20: 28-38; John 17: 11b-19

From parting mood to prayer mode... the Word today captures both Jesus and Paul praying for and praying with their beloved followers. They invoke the Spirit who unites, and they warn the followers of the spirit of discord. Both those, the invocation and the warning, are a lesson for us today!

How we can discern the right direction to take in the face of differences among us - that is the question that the Word answers today. Be it in a family or in a community of faithful, given the fact that we are thinking individuals, there is bound to arise differences of opinion. First of all, the conviction to grow in, is this: that differences of opinoins are not a problem. They are a richness! They enrich the point of view, but as along as the motivations are right and well oriented. 

The differences, as long as they are from the Spirit, they shall lead only to growth and renewal, enrichment and empowerment. Hence we are invited today to invoke the Holy Spirit on ourselves and on our communities, not to abolish all differences and make us monocultural and monolithic in nature, but to help us see the oneness through the difference, to discover the harmony that exists in the diversity that we celebrate. 

We are warned here against the differences caused by the ravenous wolves and treacherous beasts. Ruled by ego, dominated by envy, and animated by competition, these differences are aimed at destroying the unity of the people of God. It does not enrich, impoverishes; it does not empower but enfeebles the community; it does not harmonise and build but breaks and destroys! It is clearly from the evil one.

Anything that comes from the Spirit unites us, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit that makes us one! Let us remain in the Spirit and remain united in love above everything else. May we live worthy of the prayer that Jesus made for us: that they may be one!

The Spirit of Extraordinary Courage!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 7th week in Easter time

May 18, 2021: Acts 20: 17-27; John 17: 1-11

We see both Paul and Jesus in a parting mood; Paul is sensing an imminent trouble and Jesus is sure of a fast approaching end. But both have a sense of having completed the task given to them. I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do, says Jesus praying to his Father (Jn 17:4); Paul is seen to be speaking of finishing the race and having done the task of proclamation entrusted to him. 

Besides this parting sentiment, both have a note of passing on the mission to those around them - Paul to the presbyters and elders, and Jesus to the apostles.They both are seen to be challenging the followers, to a life of commitment and endurance. And here it is that one thing can be found common to both cases of encounter that ensures the continuity: the One Spirit, a Spirit of extraordinary courage.

The same Spirit that was in Jesus, he gave to his apostles, to Paul and then Paul to the elders...the Spirit of courage and strength. As Paul would explain in 2 Tim 1:7, the Spirit of power, of love and of self discipline. Power, which makes us fearless; love which makes us feel for the others; and self discipline which enables us to do the will of the One who calls us, come what may!

Amidst difficulties and struggles, oppositions and spirit-dampening events, with persons around who wish our downfall and our discouragement, if we have to go on with courage and strength, we cannot do it by our efforts alone! It takes what the Spirit can offer us: courage and strength, power and authority, love and empathy, and composure and serenity! This is what we need to learn from Jesus, as did Paul. Let us continue our journey, preparing ourselves to celebrate that Spirit of Extraordinary Courage, promised us by Christ.  

The Spirit of the Conqueror

WORD 2day: Monday after Ascension Sunday

May 17, 2021 - Acts 19:1-8; John 16: 29-33

No one probably understood Jesus when he was around. They were only making their guesses, putting together things that they saw, the things they heard and the things that were being reported. Today, in the Gospel, as many other times Jesus confronts them with the truth! When the disciples presume that they knew and understood what Jesus was saying, Jesus makes them realise their folly and their weakness - not out of despise - but out of genuine concern and fraternal love.

We are beginning a new phase of our liturgical year, a short but very important phase...when Jesus has ascended and the Spirit has not yet descended...it is the interim phase when the disciples had to be patient and strong, holding on to the teachings that they have heard from their Master. They still had not known the Spirit, just as those persons of Ephesus whom we come across in the first reading. 

Jesus begins to introduce to them and speak to us of the continuous presence of God, which is the indwelling Spirit. It is with the coming of the Spirit that the apostles come to understand Jesus and all that Jesus said while he was with them... it is only with that they became conquerors, because the Spirit they received was the Spirit of the Conqueror - the one who had conquered the world and even death!

Beginning today, we are invited to contemplate on this Spirit of the Lord, who will make of us too, conquerors of the world and all its wiles. The Spirit will make us understand things plainly - with a lot of things happening around us today, we are unable to understand anything in life! We need the Spirit all the more to plainly understand the meaning of all that is happening and be calm and serene, because the Spirit promised to us, the Spirit who lives in us, the Spirit that awaits to take control of our lives, is the Spirit of the Conqueror....let us be brave!

LOOK UP, BUILD UP & RISE UP!

The Solemnity of Ascension

May 16, 2021: 7th Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 4: 1-13; Mark 16:15-20 

Why do you people stand here looking up into the sky, asks the Messenger of God... and we still stand there looking up to the Lord, ascending to his Father! In fact, looking up, we grow! Looking up to the Lord, we learn, we understand, we receive and we grow! 'Looking up,' as a phrase can mean to find, to discover, to search to arrive at... these are the cues we have today, about the relationship that we need to have with the Risen Lord. To look up to the Lord and find an inspiration in him, to look up to the Lord and understand the meaning of our life, to look up to the Lord and realise what we are called to and what we are made of. 

At times we get lost in a puddle of water that we have created with our tears, thinking we have the worst of situation in the whole world. All it takes is just to look up, see the others who are suffering, those who are going through times so much more tough than ours, and then we will realise our folly! If this is the case with those around us, looking up to the Lord, is the ultimate hope-giving, and meaning-making exercise that we can ever do in our lives, that we may have meaning in life. Look up at the Lord who, as Paul reminds us in the second reading, came down, reached low, descended...that is why we can speak of ascension! 

From the sky to the earth, from the earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, and from the grave to the skies...a lovely lesson from the Lord. We are destined for greater heights, we are called to be the people of God, we are called to be part of that eternal banquet, and nothing else matters more! Everything is passing, and the Lord alone is the constant in our lives...we are bound to that permanent abode and Jesus goes before us as we look up to him!

How do we follow there? We cannot follow there alone! We reach there by building ourselves up, building up the Body of Christ, says the second reading today. When we build up the Church, the People of God, the Mystical Body of Christ, we are paving our way to where we are destined, the presence of God. We are not at times, disposed to build up because we have lost track of our destination. We lose our sight, we lose our focus, we lose our way and think this world and this life is all we have! That seems so factual, justifiable, rational and concrete - to say, this world is all we have! The Lord and the Word today remind us of the fallacy that is involved therein. Looking up is understanding that fallacy.

Building up is working on what we see when we look up! Looking up alone is not enough, at times it can lead to an endless procrastination and escapism from acting here and now. Looking up has to be followed immediately by efforts to build up. Looking up at the Lord would instantly beckon us to turn towards our fellow believers...and that is what happened with the first Christian community...as soon as they began to follow the Way, they sold everything they had and brought it to the Apostles and gave it for the community (see chapters 2 to 5 in Acts of the Apostles). Building up is not merely an extra commitment we have, but a fundamental call as a baptised child of God. It does not also mean doing some extraordinary things for the good of the other, but as fundamental as living a life that is worthy of  one's own call. And that call is to rise up!

Rising up, to be truly children of God. To rise up from the selfishness of daily life, from ego driven choices in life, from pleasure governed practices of the society today, from comfort centred concept of life, from satisfaction based outlook of life, one is called to rise up to an other-centred life, to truth driven choices in life, to virtue governed practices in daily life, to righteousness centred concept of living and to vocation based outlook on life! Jesus goes before us, to show us the way!

Jesus lived a life that was other-centred, truth-driven, virtue-governed, righteousness-centred and vocation-based. Casting out devils, speaking in tongues, picking up snakes, healing persons...these are gifts that are experienced when one rises up. Jesus goes up, challenging us to rise up, and promises us a help, an advocate who will counsel us to rise up in our personal life and our life as a community of faith. When we rise up, our very lives become a proclamation to the world. We need say no words, our life shall shout out loud by itself, to the whole world. 

Look up to the Lord, build yourself up and build the Body of the Lord, and rise up to be true follower of the Lord...that is the parting message that the Ascending Lord gives us this day. May the Lord ascended into heaven, strengthen us in our daily journey in life!

God's Venture

WORD 2day: Saturday, 6th week in Easter time 

May 15, 2021: Acts 18: 23-28; John 16: 23-28

Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila, Paul... there is a band of apostles, all working in the name of the Lord. Among themselves and when in company of others, they did not consider their ego as something inviolable. They were ready to give in, to be corrected and to be taught. We see this lived out beautifully in the first reading today. Priscilla and Aquila as elders in the Lord, take Apollos an upcoming preacher aside, and give his further instruction!

This reminds us of the fact that five days ago (on May 10), Holy Father Pope Francis has come out with a Motu Proprio, Antiquum Ministerium, which institutes the Ministry of Catechists in the universal Church, that is giving an official recognition in the hierarchy of the Church, for those who involve in the minstry of Catechesis. Priscilla and Aquila were probably exceptional catechists in their community! However, the point is - how the Church, the faith community, is God's venture! God willed this faith community, so that the Reign of God can be made present here and now. This is accomplished in the very fact that the members of the Church lived in union of heart and mind.

Jesus in the Gospel too, offers himself and the Father as an example of living in union of spirit. They were one and the same - one who sees me sees the Father, one who accepts me accepts the One who sent me, those who love me will be loved by the Father, for the very fact that you love me! Exceptional statements of Christ on the importance of our relationship with him and with each other. 

The first christians, the disciples and the apostles understood this perfectly well. They lived united in heart, mind and spirit. They were able to think alike, plan alike, protect each other, provide for everyone and thus they formed a worthy part of the salvific band of God. 

Have we, you and I, the readiness and the will to be united in heart and mind, to be single-mindedly concerned about God's ventures?

I Chose you!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

May 14, 2021: Celebrating St Mathias, the Apostle

Acts 1: 15-17, 20-26; John 15: 9-17

Every relationship is a response! Relationships can never be forced upon persons. I wish to relate to a person, I choose to relate to the person and then I leave the response of the person, to the freedom of that person! Only then there is a healthy relationship that blooms. It is the same with God's choice too!

You have not chosen me, I chose you!, reminds Jesus today. With the beautiful example of Mathias and Barsabbas, Jesus brings out another element of the election theology! When God chooses, God chooses individuals (not masses), for a unique purpose and specific plan. As God reminds us through Jeremiah, God has a plan for each of us (Jer 29:11) and God alone knows what the plan is and how it would come through. All that we need to do is submit, surrender to that plan and walk by it.

And when God chooses, God chooses not for merely conferring a privilege, or a position or power; but for commitment, suffering and for giving one's life for the other! As the readings of the past Sunday reminded us, we cannot stop with thinking we are chosen therefore we are special! We are chosen, we are special... but it entails further, that we are specially chosen to strive, fight, struggle, suffer and thus, usher in the Reign of God, wherever we are. 

Mathias is today counted into the band of apostles. Of course a privilege, but with that came the burden of being a Messenger of the Word, the burden of being the Elder in the Community and the burden of being a Shepherd of God's flock. St. Mathias is an inspiring example which tells us, the Lord counts on us... the Lord has chosen us and wishes to count us into the number of his apostles!

Yes, the Word and the Saint of today speak to us: You are chosen! Are you ready for all that it entails?

Sorrow or Joy... your choice?!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 6th week in Easter time

May 13, 2021 - Acts 18: 1-8; Jn 16: 16-20

What would be your choice, your natural spontaneous choice: sorrow or joy? Of course, we would all choose joy or at least that is what we think. Today, there is so much sorrow in the world, because we think we choose joy, while in fact we are constantly adding to our sorrows. Is that confusing? Not really. It is an easy perspective that the Word offers today, to understand our situation today. Let us contrast these as the perspective of the world and the perspective of the Word.

The perspective of the world says, with a faulty understanding of the phrase 'here and now', choose what gives you utmost happiness at any given moment and that will add to your joy. This is why people end up frustrated, ruined and wrecked in their life, making all the wrong choices possible, adding to their own woes and to the others'. The disciples could not understand what Jesus was telling them, because they only had a limited perspective of the here and now, until the Spirit arrived to open the eyes and their hearts.

The perspective of the Word says, have the ultimate Joy, the Joy that the Lord alone can give, in your mind. You would then be ready to choose at a given moment even a bit of pain and struggle, because you know you have a joy, a glory, an eternal happiness that awaits you! Look at Paul, Aquila, Priscilla, Titus Justus... they were wantonly choosing trouble and opposition, because they had their ultimate joy in perspective. Paul said that emphatically: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18).

With all the situation around us in perspective, now let us consider that question again- what is our choice: sorrow or joy?

The Spirit of Truth

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 6th week in Easter time 

May 12, 2021: Acts 17:15,22 -18:1; John 16: 12-15

The Spirit of the Lord convicts because the Spirit leads us to the truth. We have all the truth right in front of us. We fail to see them and understand them; or we are tempted not to see them or understand them; or we choose not to see them and understand them!

When we fail to see, the Spirit gives us the wisdom and leads us to see it, leading us to light, as St Paul tries to lead the Athenians. The grace comes through the Spirit to overcome our inability to see and observe God present in a situation that is not so obviously manifest of that Divine presence. It is like an ordinary day, when everything seems 'normal' and 'ordinary', that we do not get to observe anything out of the ordinary or anything extraordinary!

When we are tempted not to see, the Spirit fills us with the courage to see it, making us free and bold as children of God, as Jesus promises his disciples. The light comes with the Spirit illumining the darkest moment of our lives. It could be a crisis, a loss, a failure, a disappointment, a delusion that comes up in life and we are tempted to question the presence and real mercy of God. More than ever, we need courage at those moments and it is the Spirit of Truth who can give us that courage and light.

When we choose not to see, the Spirit convicts us, as we heard yesterday and makes us understand how mistaken we are. Peter, Paul, the other apostles and everyone who owes his or her rapport with God to a dramatic conversion, would vouch for this role of the Spirit. What is at play is more stubborness, insensitivity and arrogance of human mind to rebel against the presence of God, than an inability or a genuine crisis. This is a sin against the Holy Spirit and the person here keeps oneself deliberately away from God.

The crux of the message is: that I need to open my mind to the Word, failing which I will laugh at the Word or postpone listening to it, to another convenient moment, as the people do in the first reading today. Then I shall be the loser; a tragic loss at that. 

The Spirit that convicts!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 6th week in Easter time 

May11, 2021: Acts 16: 22-34; John 16: 5-11

Jesus wishes that his disciples moved on to the next level. He is pushing them to it, goading them to make them not merely servants but friends, not merely working hands but leaders, not merely followers but inspirers. He is trying his best to introduce them to the Advocate, the Divine Counselor! This week, the Word presents to us, the varied aspects of a Spirit-filled Christian life... today's readings bring out one important aspect of this advocate, promised by Jesus: the aspect of the Spirit which convicts individuals, communities and all those who truly believe.

The Spirit when around makes things clear - about sin, righteousness and judgement, says the Word. No one can escape from the omniscient Spirit of the Lord, for even the innermost of the sinful tendencies are known to the Spirit. One who is righteous is sustained by the Spirit, that amidst even the worst of oppositions and criticism, the one who is conscientiosuly righteous, knows nothing can affect him or her. One who is in the Spirit knows that the judgement is at hand and lives not by fear, but by righteousness and in abhorrence of sin! In fact, receiving the Spirit, thus becomes a mode of equipping oneself to live a truly Christian life.

Receiving the Spirit is not an ordinary task. It is a divine mission that the Lord promised to those who sincerely ask for it. For when the spirit comes... the Spirit would convict the person. The person automatically goes into a self-examination mode, evaluating and appraising oneself on, how worthy one is, of the life to which he or she is called.

"What should we do to be saved" ... that is the question that would fill our hearts, when the Spirit overshadows us. What should I do to be acceptable in the eyes of God? What should I do to reject sin? What should I do to be righteous in the eyes of God? What should I become to face judgement with hope? We have a great help to answer these questions: the Spirit that convicts!

Help love prevail !!!

WORD 2day: Monday, 6th week in Easter time

May 10, 2021: Acts 16: 11-15; John 15:26 - 16:4a

Speaking of the new believer in the Lord, a lady of considerable renown, Paul says she prevailed over us! It is true love that prevails, a selfless love inspired by the newly accepted Good news! The Lord opened her mind to listen to the Word and her heart to be the consolation for the messengers of the Word. The Lord provides through her.

Today, providing for the messengers of the Word, in ways truly numerous, is one way that we can make love prevail. We may have troubles from every corner, opposition from all sides and forces waiting to devour the simple and innocents, the fear-inducing situation around, the hope-draining experiences and information - as we see Jesus telling us in the Gospel today. But nothing of this will block us from going ahead in our task and the challenge entrusted to us, if only we allow love to prevail over us. 

The Lord will open minds, inspire hearts and remove blocks, that we may have all the back up needed to take the message far and wide, the message of hope and life, the message of God's love and unconditional accompaniment. This could have been, or could be at present, the experience of many of us: how many ways and moments, we would have felt the providence of God, at the exact right moment! Persons coming to our aid, friends pitching in their bit, and so many other unbelievable ways in which the Lord provides, or numerous ways in which Love prevails!

The call is simple: that we allow love to prevail and we become ourselves means and instruments for love to prevail. Can we and shall we help love prevail!!!