HAND IN HAND WITH GOD

Facing the World Crisis today!

July 25, 2021: 17th Sunday in Ordinary time

2 Kings 4: 42-44; Ephesians 4: 1-6; John 6: 1-15

The times are bad...those are words that we hear from almost all quarters today - economic or cultural or sanitary or moral or political or religious or ecclesial... every corner of human existence seems to echo this judgement invariably. Need, misery, unbalanced growth, neglect of the majority middle class, domination of a few, the gross problem of the migrants, resistance and revolts all over, a general sense of loss of meaning and a sort of helplessness that fills the minds of every person of good will, and added to all these the Pandemic that is still having its sway over humanity at large... that is what the scene looks like today!

How do we revive the earth, and the humanity... it is by acting hand in hand with GOD. We are presented with three mentalities to grow in, for the revival of this world today. Three mentalities that can be called GOD mentalities - Giving oneself, Other centred and Doing one's part!

GIVE... a heart to give - that is the essential correction needed for the humanity today. We need to have a heart to give, to give with all our heart. That is what God does. God gives, and gives, and gives! When we begin to grow within us a heart to give, to truly give not merely of what we do not want, nor of what is excess with us but of ourselves and of what we actually need and of all that we have, that is Giving after the heart of God. God is essentially a Giver! Elijah is ready to Give, Jesus wants to Give, God is ever ready to Give! Do I have the heart to Give? We know the tendency to Give today...calculations of gain and profit, returns and publicity dominate the act of giving. They become more personal statements of polpularity and establishing what one wants to achieve. True Giving that is divine has to be an authentic self-giving, as the Lord gives and never counts.

OTHERS...an eye for the others - is the radical perspective that needs to guide humanity today. People have ceased to think of the other. Whether a daily scene of jostling in the public places like railway stations or bus terminus or the national politics and policy lobbying...everywhere humanity has grown cold to the other, thinking only of the self, only of the petty private interests. Even when they think of the common good, they think of what is common to a small circle to where they belong, and not the Greater Common Good...the good of the whole humanity, the good of the whole world - Lokasamgraha (the welfare of the world), Sarvodhaya (the rise of all), vasudhaiva kutumbaka (the world-family spirit), Universal brotherhood and Sisterhood, the care for the Common Home...these have become merely wishful thinking! Humanity needs to revive its other-centered existence - with the conviction that when the whole humanity is well, I shall be well too. It cannot be definitely the other way around! 

DO... a mind determined to do - this is the fundamental mindset that can redeem the situation today. At times the good willed persons can lose heart seeing the enormity of the opposition. The Word today presents to us the determination of the man who brought the barley loaves to Elijah, Philip who brought the boy with the few loaves to Jesus... they knew what they were doing actually is nothing before the task that lay before them, but they were kind of determined about what they were doing. The Lord will provide the change that is needed for the times, but the times require that we act hand in hand with God. Lamenting and cursing the times would do no good, unless we do on each of our part, whatever little that we can, joining hands with as many as we can, in doing which we shall be acting with God hand in hand. There is no point in waiting for the opportune time or the best ocassion to rise to - but wherever we are and in whichever mode we can, we need to make the little difference that we can: that will be making present the Reign of God wherever we are. 

In Giving, in being sensitive to the Other, and in being determined to Do..., we act hand in hand with God, in fact we initiate the very "new thing" that God wants to do - the new heavens and the new earth, the Reign of God here and now!

You cannot surprise the Master

WORD 2day: Saturday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 24, 2021: Exodus 24: 3-8; Matthew 13: 24-30

 

You cannot surprise the Master; you can never surprise God! With all the goodwill, as the people of Israel said a loud 'yes' to the ordinances of the covenant and made that solemn ceremony of swearing by the sacrificial blood which God instituted as the blood of the covenant. We too make promises galore. When everything seems to be going well, we find ourselves unwittingly giving into something we would rather not. We can call it infidelity to God, breakaway from God, sin, or merely a mistake!

Certainly we have heard people explaining the reason for not approaching the sacrament of Eucharist or reconciliation for years, saying that they feel they are not worthy, that they feel they are too weak or that they keep falling into the same sin again and again, that they don't want to disrespect the sacraments. Here lies the trap of the enemy! A subtle but dangerous trap... the trap of self-pity! 

Who is not unworthy? Who is not weak? And who does not have limitations! It is while we are still in sin, that God loves us, affirms St. Paul (Rom 5:8). It is while the weeds are still present the Lord permits the crop to grow, in the parable that Jesus narrates today. You cannot surprise or shock God; God knows everything, absolutely everything (Ps 139). God is patient and kind; with all our impurities, limitations and infidelities, God still loves us and waits for us to grow in our hearts, strong good crops that would outdo the weeds. 

Every day is an opportunity to suppress a weed and allow a good crop to grow in our hearts and become more and more worthy of the gratuitous gift of love that we receive from God. Let every day be a sacrifice of praise that we offer to the Lord!

The Right-living People

WORD 2day: Friday, 16th week in Ordinary Time

July 23, 2021: Exodus 20: 1-17; Matthew 13: 18-23

 

Jesus speaks of the four types of seed ground, viz., the pathway, the rocky, the thorny and the good ground, and compares them with four kinds of people. His story remains open ended throwing the challenge to us: which ground are you? Extending the same analogy with respect to the laws that the Lord gives us, today we find the same four kinds of people.

 

Those who do not know what is right and deliberately keep away from understanding it: they are like the pathway; nothing remains in them. They are the ruthless inhuman beings whom we find on earth who are a burden to the planet and scourge to humanity.

 

Those who know what is right but do not do it: they are like the rocky ground. There is a chance of correcting them, but it takes a yeomen effort - to break them, fill them will more sand and convert them.

 

Those who know what is right but are unable to do it: they are like the ground with thorn bushes. They know and wish to do what is right but find themselves too weak before the temptations and struggles and they give in easily. They need a lot of mercy and compassion and they can be set right by a bit of cleaning.

 

Those who know what is right and strive to do it, come what may: they are the good ground and they are rare to find. In fact, they are the Lord's true sons and daughters. They need no external pressure or internal force to do what is right. It comes naturally to them and the others find it too unrealistic. These are the Right-Living people!

 

Which of the four types do I belong?

Weeping blinds you... listen and look!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

July 22, 2021: Celebrating St. Mary Magdalene

Song of Songs 3: 1-4; John 20:1-2,11-18

Today we celebrate Mary Magdalene, the first apostle of the Risen Lord. It may be a surprising title to give her, but factually it is so! An apostle is someone who is sent, sent with a message... and the first one who was sent, sent with a message by the Risen Lord was Mary of Magdala! Isn't it true that she was the first apostle of the Risen Lord?

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus intensely. She was delivered by Jesus from seven demons, the Gospels tell us. And after that, for her Jesus, her Master meant everything in life. The first reading is given to make us understand how intimately she had loved Jesus. She had encountered, experienced and cherished her relationship with Jesus, while he lived, in such close quarters but now the Risen Lord stands right beside her and she is unable to identify him...  the reason: she is too preoccupied with her weeping and complaining.

At times in our lives when troubles come by and trials abound, we fumble and falter as if we are all alone. We fail to recognise the Lord who sticks so close to us, because we are too busy weeping and complaining. If only we opened our eyes and saw; if only we opened our hearts and listened; if only we believed in the words of the Lord, “I have conquered the world"... we would leap for joy and love to cling to the Lord. 

Mary Magdalene gives us a clear message: stop weeping; weeping blinds you. Look, listen and you will leap for joy, for the Lord is with you now and always! 

To become fertile soil

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 21, 2021: Exodus 14:21 - 15:1; Matthew 12: 46-50

Those who have ears, let them hear; those who have eyes, let them see; those who have a heart, let them feel... how pained Jesus would have been to say this! The people saw him cure the sick, give sight to the blind, make the deaf hear and the mute speak, drive the demons out and raise people from the dead! In spite of all these the people were not ready to believe him! He was wondering what kind of a heart they had... rocks, or thorny bushes or sandy sidewalks... how he wished they were good fertile soil.

However Jesus knew what kind of people he was dealing with - the children of the people who saw the plagues one after another in Egypt, but still readily murmured when they saw the Egyptians pursue them; the people who saw the Egyptians perish right in front of their eyes, but still readily murmured when they had nothing to eat; the people who saw the manna fall from nowhere and the quails that fell right into their mouths, but still readily murmured that they would die for want of water; the people who saw water gush forth from a rock in the middle of the desert, but still readily murmured that manna was tasteless and the quails were stale!

Hard and stubborn as they were, nothing pierced their hearts to make it bear fruit as God wanted from them... the warning to us is clear! How prone we are to murmur against God in times of trouble, forgetting the abundance of graces we have received! The capacity to see God's presence in our daily life will decide, whether we are sandy sidewalks or rocky ruins or thorny bushes or as God wants, fertile soil!

The Will or your whims!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 20, 2021: Exodus 14:21 - 15:1; Matthew 12: 46-50

 

The first reading sets us thinking... the greed of the king and his adamant decision to exploit the people led him to destruction! However, the reading is clear, he did not die, his own people did! The Egyptians, the horsemen and all who followed him died! We can be very sure not all of those who died wished to pursue the people of Israel; it was not their wish, they did it because they were enrolled, they were commissioned by the authority. But all the same, the destruction was theirs. 

How close it seems to what is happening today in the world... the leaders who mislead, the leaders guided by warped politics and selfish interests who lead the whole people astray, the partisan mentality of the people who destroy themselves, following the leaders who however remain in their zones of security! Wars, civil clashes, terrorist attacks, border conflicts, nuclear craze, killings in the name of caste and creed - how many of these we find today because of a group of leaders who manipulate everything for their ends! This can end only when every individual is able to think for himself or herself and have the freedom to say 'no' to what one thinks is not right, or what one thinks does not enhance humanity and its existence. 

The unfailing criteria for such decisions and discernments, as Jesus points today, is the Will of God! When human beings are too concerned about having their will established at all costs, be it in personal lives or in social settings, it leads to autocracy or hegemony and subsequently varied forms of exploitation and destruction. The only way to enhance life to its fullness is to do the Will of God, and that is the only way to become 'the mother, the brothers and sisters' of Jesus, the Son of God.

Stand up, cry out & carry on!

WORD 2day: Monday, 16th week in Ordinary time

July 19, 2021: Exodus 14: 5-18; Matthew 12: 38-42

 

Look at the images given to us today - the raging waters, the pressing enemy forces, the stone hearted beneficiaries, the swallowing sea monster, the gulf that separates the south and the north, the hard headed wicked generation - there is everywhere threat and the so-called evil stands out. What are you going to do?... Stand up, Cry out and Carry on!

 

Stand Up against the evil: Jesus never feared the pressurising crowd. He was able to stand up and call a spade a spade. He was able to chide them on their face - you evil generation. A person of God needs that spirit to be bold, to stand up against the evil and to stand up for the truth.

 

Cry Out to the Lord: It is never by my own power that I can fight the powers of evil. No I cannot. I need to cry out to the Lord, just as Moses did. Moses was mindful of the fact that he was about God's business and it belonged to God to accomplish whatever has to be, in and through God's servants. In whatever we do, we need to acknowledge the presence of God and the workmanship of God.

 

Carry On with the Lord: Never give in to the pressure of pleasing the clamouring crowd. The world will keep shouting at you, criticising you and giving you easier and more pragmatic alternatives. But what matters is to carry on with the Lord. That is what we see with both Moses and Jesus - they never obeyed the crowd, they never gave in to the expectations of the world. They carried on with the One who had called them: their Father!

THE 4G SHEPHERD

Gathers, gives, gladdens and governs

July 18, 2021: 16th Sunday in Ordinary time

Jeremiah 23: 1-6; Ephesians 2: 13-18; Mark 6: 30-34 

The Lord is our Shepherd, our eternal Shepherd, the Shepherd of all shepherds. The Word this Sunday presents to us a Shepherd par excellence, a Shepherd for our times - in the times that speak of 4G - yes, a 4G Shepherd.

While the power conscious of today seek to divide people, stratify them and polarise them to gain their own benefits, the True Shepherd GATHERS all. Specially in the context of immigration, rising right-wing nationalism worldwide, fight for the position of super power in the world, the economic bigwigs trying to have the sway over everything in the world, the majority, ordinary people are disheartened, disillusioned and divided! The first reading and the second underline this grace that the Lord brings us - the grace of unity and peace! Yes, this is the sign of the True Shepherd. Gathering the remnant, gathering the different people, gathering all into one is the task that Jesus took upon himself - to gather everyone, to reconcile everything in God! We are called to be persons who gather, not divide, not polarise, not scatter.

While the self-centred generation of today thinks about oneself and one's own possessions, growing evermore avaricious and insensitive to others, the True Shepherd GIVES himself to us. Paul's central message has always been that: that Christ gave himself up that we may be brought to the state of being children of God. Endless greed and craze for pleasure, extreme consumerism and the use and throw culture, the craze to have and possess, blind the generations of today and we cannot belong to the flock of the True Shepherd if we follow the trend. We need to stand up for truth, stand out in our choices and sometimes even stand alone, and be ready to give of ourselves to stand for the good and for God.

While the grief struck mentality of the world is all the time striving and chasing after the comforts and in the meanwhile accumulating grief and depression, the True Shepherd GLADDENS the spirits of those who come to him. Specially these days, still reeling under the misery of the pandemic and all the issues related to it directly and indirectly, there is a multitude of hearts looking for respite and consolation. Come to me, rest in me, learn from me, be nourished of me, grow in me and become like me, calls the Lord today. The Shepherd knows the struggle that we are involved in, the problems and pains that we are facing on a daily basis - that is why he tells us today: Come apart and rest a while!

While the craving to dominate others becomes the force that moves persons to action today, the True Shepherd, who has the entire universe under his command, GOVERNS us with love, a love that is sensitive, a love that is delicate, a love that is selfless, a love that is ever-giving, a love that reaches out, a love that works marvels for our good and not for its own glory...a love that is God. That is the principle that governs the entire reality, the principle that is the foundation of everything that is good or godly: the principle of LOVE, which has to characterise the life of everyone in this flock. The call is to receive this love from its source, the Lord, the True Shepherd and grow in it, and learn to give it to all, little by little! 

Our Shepherd gathers, gives, gladdens and governs; let us seek to grow into his loving flock!

Keep Walking...

WORD 2day: Saturday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 17, 2021: Exodus 12: 37-42; Matthew 13: 14-21

 

Reading passages like that of today's first reading, where it says 'that was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of Egypt'... that the Lord watched over the people of Israel as they walked into that night of freedom towards the broad day light... there is a longing in our hearts that cries... Will there not be a day when the people suffering today would walk into their freedom; the oppressed innocents, the trodden poor, the cheated multitudes, the neglected lots, the exploited masses - will there not be an end to evil in the world? Will not the Lord keep watch over these my suffering brothers and sisters to walk into their freedom, into their life of peace, into their days of tranquillity? 

The response is right there in the reading too... the number of years that the Hebrews lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty! The Lord is still working on the solution, and we are all part of the process! There are many who create hindrances and blocks, but despite all, the humanity will one day see the eternal goodness, the Reign of God established forever! 

Our role in the plan, is as that of the people of Israel - Keep Walking... Jesus was cornered, plotted against... he moved on, slipped through, and went ahead doing good to the people - for he knew his time had not come, he knew the One who sent him had a proper plan and the right time - and Jesus kept walking, 'and many followed him'. 

Let us wait on the Lord, in the Lord's own time everything will happen according to the design; but on our part we are called to do the little that is ours to do, and keep walking. As Matthew quotes Isaiah, 'In God's name will we hope.' And the sign of hope is - to keep walking!

Sacrifices or Self-understanding?

WORD 2day: Friday, 15th week in Ordinary time 

July 16, 2021: Exodus 11:10 - 12:14; Matthew 12: 1-8 

 

The Liturgy of the Word today traces for us an eventful journey of the understanding of God and the self-understanding of the people in relation to their God! From an importance attached to sacrifices as necessities, demands and requirements for relationship with God, to a liberating understanding of God that was brought by Jesus, who presented a God who says, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice". 

The point is not that the Old Testament's understanding was faulty; neither is it to say that Jesus negates all the understanding of the Old Testament! As Jesus himself explained, he came not to abolish the law, he came to bring it to its fulfilment. That fulfilment is achieved when we understand not just the letter but the spirit of the law and try to live it to its details. 

The sacrifices, the sanctifications, the consecrations that were prescribed were all for one reason: to bring the people closer to the Lord! To make the people understand how good the Lord has been... in order that they may lift the cup of salvation, a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord, as the Psalm invites us today. 

Having moved a long way from the understanding of the people of the Old Testament, the challenge is much greater for us today - to prioritise our relationship with God, in all that we carry out in the name of our spirituality, in the name of practices of piety. It is not merely a fulfilment of a duty or a necessity, for God needs nothing from us; but a thanksgiving to the ever-present Lord, a grateful beholding of the loving presence of God with us, is what really matters!