To be Instruments of the Reign

The WORD, the SAINT and the ADVENT

November 30, 2022: Remembering St. Andrew, the Apostle
Romans 10: 9-18; Matthew 4: 18-22

St. Andrew repeatedly played a special role during the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. As a disciple of Christ he always had the special role of bringing good news to persons... he brought the good news of having found Christ, to Peter (Jn 1:41); along with Philip, he brought the Greeks to meet Jesus (Jn 12:22); and he brought that boy who gave the five loaves to feed the five thousand (Jn 6:9). He brought Jesus to persons and he brought persons to Jesus! 

This is why, Andrew is today proposed as the patron of social network...because he used every opportunity to connect between persons and Christ - he announced Christ to people and to brought people to Christ. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI described social network as the modern day pulpit and invited us to proclaim Christ not merely from the housetops but also from the laptops... and here we have a great role model for that... St. Andrew, the Apostle. 

This has a special reference to the season of Advent - which is fundamentally a season of not only waiting, but a season of pre-announcement, a season that reminds us of the foretaste. We are called to eagerly long for a foretaste of the Reign that has to reveal itself in its fullness. It is a call to dedicate every effort of ours to proclaim the Reign through all means, including the social network. 

Let us seek, in our contacts with the people, especially the young, to offer a right orientation to the social network, which offers us such a great promise, that it may forever be an instrument in the hands of God to bring God's will to fulfillment, an instrument of the Reign. 

Returning to the Fullness of the Father

The WORD in ADVENT - First Tuesday

November 29, 2022: Isaiah 11: 1-10; Luke 10: 21-24

Finding the fundamentals of faith - that was the call we had yesterday. And talking of faith and growing in faith, in a context like India, I have wondered often, and I am sure you have too... that at school, in the neighbourhood, as children we have always grown up with so many different people, different in their faith, different in their customs etc., but always growing up as friends and neighbours, sharing lives, sharing festivities and sharing our brotherhood and sisterhood as one humanity. From where then does hatred come, if this unity and fellowship is so natural?

On the Lord's mountain, there is no hurt or harm, no killing or violence, no manipulation or deception. That is the fullness with which God, the Creator, the Father, made the whole world. The New heaven and New earth, has to be modelled on this - on the fullness of the Father. Hence it is not inventing something new, but going to the roots, or a returning to the Father.

This is of course found naturally with children and those persons with a simple child-like heart. Jesus awes at these... the children and those who are children at heart: "for theirs is the Reign of God!" (Mt 19:14). Woe to those who cause these little ones to stumble, make them learn hatred and grow inhuman...(cf.Mt 18:6). Bringing the Good news to people, is not to brandish a brute superiority or instill a sense of inferiority and fear, but sharing a sense of fullness, the fullness of the Father. It is growing to be peacemakers, children of God, persons of love... to Return to the fullness of the Father as true people of the Reign!

Finding the Fundamentals of our Faith

The WORD in ADVENT - First Monday

November 28, 2022: Isaiah 4: 2-6; Matthew 8: 5-11

We began Advent yesterday with a call, "to return to the Reign"! And what could that mean - it means to find the fundamental meaning of our faith in the Lord, which fills us with hope, love and joy!

One of the concrete expressions of faith is, total confidence that the Lord has the power to act on my behalf! The Word today explains this reality to us in a splendid manner. Isaiah infuses hope into the people in exile that the Lord will bring back their glory to them, that the Lord will forgive all their iniquities, cleanse them and heal them! He is building up their shattered faith. 

It is the same faith that Jesus notices in the centurion, a non-Israelite, a 'pagan' according to the Jews... Jesus sees the confidence that the centurion had in Jesus' power to heal that servant at home. He had no doubt whatsoever and surrendered the whole situation to Jesus. He did not demand, nor did he prescribe to Jesus what is to be done; he just surrendered. The faith stands out here. 

Work-stress, family problems, personal crises, misunderstandings, relationship issues, daily concerns, discouragements, health issues... when we are faced with these - we need to have an unassailable confidence that Our Lord has the power to act on our behalf. Let us pray for the strength of faith, to say as the centurion does today: "Lord, only say a word, and your servant will be healed!"

RETURN TO THE REIGN

Climb, Conduct and Celebrate!

November 27, 2022: New Liturgical Year - 1st Sunday of Advent

Revelation 22: 1-7; Romans 13:11-14a; Matthew 24: 37-44

Let us begin with wishing each other a happy and blessed New liturgical year! And right at the outset the Lord invites us today, to RETURN to the REIGN of God.

 

The Church is the sign and the sacrament of the Reign of God. We are the Church, the people of God! Therefore we are expected to be the signs, the bearers, the heralds of the Reign of God today to the world. And how can this happen if we are not people of the Reign, if we are not mindful of ushering in the Reign of God here on earth, or making the Reign felt concretely, if we do not really believe in what Christ said: 'The Reign of God is amidst you!' (Lk 17:21) Hence, the invitation today, to return to the Reign is basically a wake up call, to wake up to the reality, to wake up to our real identity, to wake up to our dignity as the People of the Reign and to live up to that identity on a daily basis.

It is an invitation to CLIMB the mountain of the Lord... yes, to walk in the way of the Lord, to walk in the light of the Lord...as the first reading repeats in different words. It is fundamentally an invitation to climb, to go up, infact to grow up. We are invited to go up, grow up, above our tendencies of conflict and our feelings of rivalry and jealousy, above our petty considerations of ourselves and self centered strivings for pleasure. It is a call to transcend what is popularly considered to be 'desirable' and reach the thinking worthy of the Reign - where swords can turn into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; where all manipulation and exploitation will give into genuine love and sincere goodwill for the other.

It is an invitation to CONDUCT ourselves worthy of the Reign. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, invites us St. Paul. And in doing it, let's not wait for an opportune moment... for "now is the acceptable time, now is the time of salvation!" (2 Cor 6:2). Waiting for another moment will be a mistake, a blunder, a foolishness on our part. Let us make the choice, a choice for God, a choice for the light, a choice for the good, a choice to be awake, a choice to be the people of the Reign. Let us not blame the world, the society, the times... the choice is ours, and let us make it now - To accept the invitation of the Lord and "walk in the light of the Lord"(Is 2:5). We will find the joy that the Lord can give, the joy that the Light can shed, the joy that cannot be taken away from us, and in that joy we will find the Reign of God amidst us!

It is an invitation to CELEBRATE the Reign of God amidst us, not waiting to reach the end but celebrating it all the way. Advent is not a preparation towards a celebration, it is a celebration in itself, a celebration of the peace, the prosperity, the security and the salvation that the Lord brings us. The Reign of God becomes a reality when we celebrate our love and joy together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. This is the meaning of the phrase, All the way to heaven is heaven! As we pray in the responsorial psalm, we are walking, walking towards the Reign, but all through the way we are called to celebrate the Reign of God..celebrate the love we share, celebrate the equality we have, celebrate the justice we stand for, celebrate the brotherhood and sisterhood that we work to establish forever - that celebration is returning to the Reign!

As we begin the year, and the wonderful season of Advent, let us pay heed to the invitation from the Lord - to Climb the mountain of the Lord, to Conduct ourselves worthy of the Reign and in that joy, to Celebrate the Reign of God, every day in our relationships in our family, in our communities, in our parish, in our localities and wherever we are. May the joy of the Gospel, the joy of the Reign, fill our hearts all through this new year.

Neither inaction nor hyper action

WORD 2day: Saturday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 26, 2022: Revelation 22:1-7; Luke 21: 34-36

Behold I am coming soon! At times it does annoy when we hear people go hysteric about this statement. It is not a statement to make one panic, but a gentle reminder as to how one should live one's daily life.  St. Paul understood this well and instructed the thessalonians: "For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness" (1 Thess 5:2,4).

This only means that neither inaction nor hyper action is expected of us; neither carousing nor drowsiness! It is not a call to live our life on pins and needles, anxious about the next moment; nor is it a call to live our life in mourning and bewailing for the lost moments. The call is simply to make the best of this moment and live the 'here and now' to the full, conscious and loving. That is the sense that the Gospel presents us: be vigilant at all times! 

Neither inaction, which is the product of lamentation of the past, nor hyper action which is a frenetic preparation for an unknown future at the cost of the present, would help us says the Word today. The secret is to live our lives as children of the light, calm and composed, but awake and vigilant! Every end leads to a new beginning, provided we are awake and aware. As we end this liturgical year, we begin the new year, yet another opportunity to journey, through time and space, towards fullness we are called to.   

Heaven, Earth and the Word

WORD 2day: Friday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 25, 2022: Revelation 20: 1-4,11- 21:2; Luke 21: 29-33

We have heard the phrase in english, 'he moved earth and heaven to achieve something.' Moving heaven and earth is symbolically used as doing even what is impossible. Heaven and earth become a kind of immovable reference points naturally. Physics, Kinetics, Geography, History ...all of these subjects and others take heaven and earth as reference points to make possible an explanation for their theories and principles. Today the Lord says, these are not truly the unchanging reference points, they cannot be.

The true reference point for our life, for our actions, for our choices, has to be the Word. For those who hear the Word, keep it in their heart and live by it, will find a place in that New Heaven and New Earth... the heaven and the earth may keep becoming new and newer, it does not matter, as long as what matters to us is the Word and being faithful to it. 

There is always a yearning in our human heart to find something that can be unchanging, constant, a reliable ground on which one can build his or her life. This is why relationships that are unreliable and fluid are so unnerving for persons. The society today is tired of it - be it in interpersonal level (in friendships, courtships or among couples), in the social levels (lack of policies, unjust systems etc) or in the global levels (international stand offs and capitalistic hegemonies)! Everywhere, there is a disillusionment because there is a lack of solid unchanging ground! The fact is there can be nothing absolutely unchanging. Even the earth and the heaven will pass away sometimg. But God alone never changes! There is our constant, unchanging and never ending reference point.. God, the Living Word!

Victory and Power to the Lord

WORD 2day: Thursday, 34th week in Ordinary Time

November 24, 2022: Revelation 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9; Luke 21:20-28

Reacting to the first reading of today, many take off with imaginations and guesses as to who is referred to as the whore and who is the condemned. There are so many of the non-catholic denominations today who point an accusing finger with a heartless judgement: the Catholic Church is the Babylon of the Apocalypse! This kind of a finger-pointing and childish pickering is definitely not the purpose of these descriptions in the book...it is not intended as solving some mystery puzzle!

The simple message that these imageries have, is a challenge to make a choice, a choice for God. Amidst all the dreadful things that happen around, we are called to remain firm in the Lord. Amidst all the inexplicable evil around, we are called to side with the truth and fearlessly face the consequences that could arise. Amidst all the dark powers that seemingly dominate the scene in the world today, we are called to firmly believe that the victory and power belong to Our Lord!

To say victory and power belong to God, we need to feel ourselves as instruments in the hands of God when we are able to accomplish things, we need to recognise the hand of God when others are able to accomplish things, we need to accept the intervention of God when we are offered a criticism or correction in a particular situation. It is not enough to just say those words as a cliche or a formula, but it has to become our outlook on life and all its situation - that victory and power always belong to God!

Perseverance... are we ready?

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 23, 2022: Revelation 15:1-4; Luke 21: 12-19

Perseverance in terms of targets and achievements in the world is holding on endlessly. The same, when it comes to our relationship with God is giving up limitlessly. Is it not an intriguing contrast? Holding on endlessly and Giving up limitlessly! Yes, perseverance in the spiritual sense, is to give up, to give up totally into the hands of God, regardless of the successes or failures, gains or losses, happiness or sadness, prosperity or misery!

We will never be able to do that if we have our minds fixed on something and we fix all our happiness on some results and consequences, accomplishments and acqusitions! The more we let go and let ourselves into the hands of God, the more we shall feel serene, blessed and growing! Faith is all about that. 

Faith involves giving up everything and walking with our hands in the hands of God. Indeed it's a challenging feat. Specially considering the fact that today there is a great pressure laid on people to hoard up things, keep striving to prove oneself, ensure one's career or well being in competition with each other...the times are difficult. It takes true faith and strong hope, to remain calm and unperturbed even amidst trials, temptations and tribulations. That is true perseverance, giving up and letting go! Are we ready?

Curiosity or care to change?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 34th week in Ordinary time

November 22, 2022: Revelation 14: 14-19 ; Luke 21: 5-11

When will these things happen? We are more interested in knowing when certain things will happen and curious about predictions and premonitions, than understanding what is the right thing to be done and make the right moves in life at the right time. Curiosity, is denoted as one of the most prominent spiritual enemies of growth, because knowing for the sake of knowing makes us more infantile than mature. What does it matter knowing, when it does not really affect my life towards a positive and mature transformation?

Mistakenly, and sometimes lazily, we postpone the necessary and crucial transformations in life for an opportune time. At times that opportune moment never comes or it gets too late by the time they come by. The month of November insists on the urgency that is involved in personal conversion and community dedication to growth and maturity in faith. And specially these days leading us to the season of advent, give us a better understanding of the end time spirituality that we are called to live in these times.

Mindful of the short time that we have, we have a calling to live: live our lives to the full, a life worthy of the Lord who has given us the gift of this life!

Chosen, marked and... Given?

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

November 21, 2022: Presentation of Our Blessed Mother 

Revelation 14: 1-3,4b-5; Luke 21:1-4

We are chosen and marked with the names of Our Lord and His Father, the mark that we received at Baptism and renew at every sacrament we receive, in and through the Spirit! We are chosen, in the name of the Lord to bear the name of the Father, to be dwelling places of the Spirit of God. We are marked to represent the Lord here amidst other people and bring to fulfillment the plan that the Father has for the entire universe! 

We are chosen by the Father and marked by the Lord...What should our response be?

Our Blessed Mother answers that question perfectly: our response should undoubtedly be, a total self giving! 

Whatever little we have, whoever little that we are, we are called to give that totally into the hands of the God and we will see miracles happen. As long as I keep something of me in reserve, I prevent the free flow of grace. When I give myself without reserve and when I offer myself totally...wonders begin to happen, God's plan begins to unfurl, love begins to flow and mercy finds no bounds!

This is the meaning of the memory we celebrated today, where the total self giving of Mary as a beloved daughter of God is prefigured in her presentation at the temple! This is an apocryphal tradition that we celebrate, ofcourse it has no mention in the canonical scriptures of the Church - but it is certain to have happened, just as it would have happened for any jewish child of jewish family. But the way Mary lived out that presentation in her life, in her total self giving to the Lord, in her unreserved submission to the holy Will of God - that is what we celebrate in reality!

There is no doubt, I am chosen, I am marked...but the crucial question is, have I truly given myself to the Lord? And how much of myself have I given?