The Obscurity of a Christian

WORD 2day: Christmas Octave - December 28, 2013

The Feast of the Holy Innocents: 1 John 1:5 - 2:2; Matthew 2: 13-18

These days we are celebrating the continued joy of Christmas, reflecting on the Christian community that testifies to this Word made flesh - we celebrated the martyr heroes who we hold in great esteem; we celebrated the great apostolic evangelisers who shine on the cloud of glory. And today we celebrate those who shine in their obscurity. It looks like a contrast in terms, isn't it? But that is the truth about the feast of the holy innocents we celebrate today. 

Those who died, the holy innocents, did not know who Jesus was, neither do we know these children we died were! All that we celebrate today is the fact that every day there are so many who are being killed, those who lay their lives down, for the sake of truth - without even knowing what they are doing. There are two important considerations that we can have today, from the perspective of our faith:

The first consideration is to recognise the Christians in obscurity - those who are standing up for the Reign, those who are voicing their hope in Truth, those who are ready to give up - be it simple things in life or be it their life itself, those who are ready to lose anything for the cause of true love of humanity. These are truly brothers and sisters of Christ, recognised by God - "all those who listen to the words of my Father and put it into practice are my mother, my brothers, my sisters". 

The second consideration is about the obscurity of a Christian - that a true Christian would live his or her Christian life in the obscurity of his or her daily life experiences. They are not always those in the limelight. Today, there is a craze for limelight; everyone wants to be trending - making statements without need, just creating ripples through the social media just for the sake of it, sometimes not worried about the repurcussions it would have on the common good. Instead, a true Christian, goes on living his or her life, in silence, in obscurity, in a daily martyrdom. 

Let us pray for all the innocents who are made to suffer for the Reign today, and in a special way let us offer the innocent children who are sacrificed at the altars of greed and inhumanity! May God have mercy!

The Joy of a Christian

WORD 2day: Christmas Octave - December 27, 2013

St. John the Evangelist: 1 John 1: 1-4; John 20: 2-8

The Christmas joy continues, even as we commemorate St. John the Evangelist today. There seems to be a wisdom and logic in celebrating St. Stephen yesterday and St. John today! Though this is certainly an unofficial reasoning, I like to hold on it for the point that it makes! Immediately after celebrating the birth of Jesus, we celebrate the birth also of the community around him - yesterday we remembered the representative of those who decide to lay their life down for the their Master, and today John, the only apostle as the tradition says, who did not die a martyr's death! But his undeterred perseverance was a martyrdom in itself - he was the only apostle who did not desert Jesus at the time of passion and he had the previllege of inheriting the mother of Jesus, in the name of the whole Church. It is indeed a great challenge to imitate - for him it was all about joy! 

Although the Gospel reading today draws our attention to the scene of resurrection, the message is about an encounter with Christ that redefines one's life. When a person encounters Christ in all one's earnestness, there is a choice, a categorical choice for Christ and Christ's mission! The joy of a Christian is seen here - John defines this for us today in three fundamental experiences - encounter, union and proclamation! 

"The Joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus," declares the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (n.1). This is what we are celebrating for the past two days - the joy of having encountered the Word made flesh.

The union that this encounter leads to, is a joyful union with the Father in the Son, with the Son in everyone who is called in his name, with each other in the joy that the Lord fills us with - a complete joy, an overflowing joy, that has to be proclamed by all means!

Just as St. Paul would affirm that it is no merit that an apostle proclaims the Word, but woe to him if he does not (1 Cor 9:16), we see John today explaining in the first reading: He seems to say, "I am called to announce Christ, not merely because others will benefit from it; but primarily that my joy may be complete (1 Jn 1:4)!

For a Christian, a joy-filled proclamation of Christ is the only way to live his or her life - joyfully proclaiming Christ in every word, every action and every choice that is made, at every moment of one's daily life.

The Birth of a Christian

WORD 2day: Christmas Octave - December 26, 2023

St. Stephen the first martyr: Acts 6: 8-10, Acts 6: 8-10, 7: 54-59; Matthew 10: 17-22

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of Christ; today we celebrate the birth of a Christian! Stephen becomes a true Christ-ian, as he follows what his Master taught and lived, in his own life and even in his death! 

One does not become a Christian automatically, one becomes a Christian, through a process of continual imitation of Christ. As Thomas A Kempis, reflects in his classic The Imitation of Christ, "whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ." It is not that we try to understand the words of Christ, in order that we put it into practice, but we strive to practice and we begin to understand what it really means. 

Let us do an exercise: first let us read the Gospel today - Jesus has some strong words to teach us, we might even miss to observe the full sense of it; now let us go to the first reading and read it - that becomes a practical explanation of what Jesus taught! And certainly we understand the depth of it, however painful and frightening it is. That is the beauty of a true Christian life: it becomes a commentary to the teachings of Christ. 

It is not enough to look at Jesus as a child born yesterday, sweet and mild, and celebrate around. It is important to open our eyes to the constant challenges of being Christians, more precisely, challenges of becoming Christians - we are constantly called to become Christians. That is to grow more and more into the likeness of Christ. May St. Stephen the first martyr inspire us in this project of our life. 

BORN UNTO US

Prince of Peace, Divine Shepherd, Wonderful Counselor

The Nativity of the Lord - December 25, 2023

Isaiah 9:1-6; Titus 2: 11-14; Luke 2: 1-14

We celebrate a birthday today, a birthday that initiated a new birth to the entire humanity, a birthday of a very special person! We are not here to celebrate the birth of a helpless infant or a chubby child who would be playing with a globe in its hands... It is not just a child who is born today!

We are here to celebrate the birthday of the One of whom Isaiah spoke: for unto us a child is born, a son has been given to us... he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Is 9:6). 

If it were a mere child, why should the King be so alarmed? Why should the world fear? Why should the world wonder what is in store? The Kings are in fright because the one who is born is a Prince, the Prince of Peace! 

    It was 1914, this very same day, the Christmas eve, it was a friday, the morning was noisy with bombshells and bullet rounds but the evening came and there was a total silence. The darkness thickened as the silence deepened, with Germans on one side and the British and French on the other. But something strange was happening... something was breaking through that darkness - a small lit candle appeared on the German horizon... what a foolish thing to do in the war front - betraying your location, making oneself vulnerable to the guns of the enemy! As the British rose to an alert yet another strange thing happened breaking the silence of the night - a solemn orchestra began a lovely hymn : Stille Nacht, Heil'ge Nacht... It took just a few seconds for that beautiful sound to reach the opposite camp! The British were wonder struck and the guns went down while the voices rose singing the same hymn - the beautiful carol Silent Night, Holy Night. Very soon the French began the same in their language Douce Nuite, Sainte Nuit... One carol followed the other and more candles appeared. The Germans walked over the fence and the British and the French did the same and soon they were in the No Man's Land shaking their hands, embracing each other, exchanging gifts - strange gifts like their buttons and cigars, pipes and lighters - there was an unofficial, unauthorised and unarranged ceasefire! Not a shot was fired all night... In one of the zones the ceasefire continued for the next one week! The whole battalion had to be reassigned another region inorder that the war be continued in that place. This is called the Great Christmas Truce of 1914, in history. The next year in many zones on the border they tried to observe this truce and it was not as successful as in the precedent year. In 1916, there was a strict and deliberate prohibition for the truce! It's more a century since then... the world is still afraid of this prince of peace! Today, as it has been more than a few times, there is so much need for bringing peace to the warring factions - can the Prince of peace not bring peace to humanity, to our hearts, to our families, to our relationships... lets give peace a chance, allow the prince of peace to be truly born!

If it were a mere child which is born, why were the shepherds notified and why is it that they were given such a prominence in the story? Because the One who is born is a shepherd, true shepherd who is born to die, born to lay down his life for his sheep, the Divine Shepherd! Why should God  be born to die! Why? 

    God could have made one of his prophets die for us - why should he die himself? A friend asked another this question and the argument went long...the friend was not convinced. They went their way. The other friend one day invited the former to an outing and asked him to bring his beloved little son along. The outing plan was for a boating on a lake and in the middle of the water, the friend pushed his comrade's son into the water. Shocked and angry the friend jumped into the water got his son brought him to safety and was about to charge on his friend... he stopped him and asked him, why did you jump? You could have asked me to save your son, or the boatman to save or called for a security personnel...while the man shouted back - because he is my son and I love him more than anything in this world! He concluded - that's the same with God. For God so loved the world that God gave God's only son. For God so loved the world that God decided to come into the world in and through God's son. That is the Shepherd we have -who is not worried about making laws that are merciless and insensitive, who is not worried about establishing his own ego and prove to the world that he is capable of things that no one can imagine, who is not power mongering or money minded... he is a shepherd who is love and compassion, who decides to be born to die. Every one is born to live, there was only one who was born to die and that was God's only son! In his death he brought us life!

If it were a mere child who is born today, why should the world fear this child? Why should everyone look at this Child and the philosophy that this child brings into this world, as a threat? Because the One who is born is a wonderful counselor. If only we heed to His counsel! 

    The world has a counsel, an advice - make sure you get your share and a little more if can be, never less than that. Make sure you get and get, and keep getting without anyone cheating you! Doesn't matter what you do, make sure you succeed, you gain, you stand to win! The Child born today has a different counsel. Have you heard of these two brothers - one was married and had two kids, the other remained single. They had a common farm, their inheritance. And they worked together on the farm producing every year grains in abundance. They shared equally the produce. One night the married brother thought on his bed, 'it is not fair that we share halves. He is single and he needs a future that is secure. After all, I have my family to stand by me if anything happens in case!' So, from that day he would get up in the middle of the night take a sack of grain from his barn and quietly slip it into his brother's barn. The single brother thought to himself one day, 'it is not fair that my brother and I share the produce equally. After all I am single while he has three more people to fend for." And he began to transfer quietly a sack every night into his brother's barn from his own. Both of them on their own, were wondering why after all these nights of transferring sacks of grains there has been no difference...until one mid night they bumped into each other, each one with a sack on his shoulder walking towards the other's barn. They dropped those sacks, embraced each other and wept in love. That is Christmas giving! Can we bump into each other with sacks of what we want to give the other? What a place this world would be if we were to take this counsel seriously: Give! Christmas is giving...that is the Christmas advice - give and give and give. That is the most fundamental form of love.

The One who is born is the Prince of Peace, the Divine Shepherd, the Wonderful Counselor - are we prepared to accept that birth? Then, Merry Christmas to Us!

ADVENT - DISCOVERING THE REIGN

Discovering the fullness, the Godliness and the humanness in Christ

Fourth Sunday in Advent - December 24, 2023

2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,14,16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

The Fourth Sunday of Advent invites us to discover the Reign, which we have been expecting, preparing and celebrating in the weeks that have gone by. This year, the fourth sunday already marks the eve of the great feast of Incarnation, bringing much more into focus the intimate relationship between the mystery of Incarnation and the promise of the Reign. In a few hours we shall already begin our festivities of Christmas, an event that generations have been waiting for in centuries - the Word becoming flesh. 

The first and foremost affirmation in this regard is an oft-repeated truth which we have more than once underscored during this season - the Reign is not something that has to come from elsewhere. It is in our midst and it needs only to be discovered, uncovered, unraveled, beheld. The disposition to discover the Reign is a fundamental capacity that we are called to grow in - the capacity to understand and recognise the fullness, the Godliness and the humanness that stand revealed in Christ.

The key is in these two terms that can summarise, not only the readings of today, but the entire message of Incarnation - 'revelation' and 'response'. Incarnation that we are preparing to celebrate, is indeed a self-revelation of God, entreating a response from humanity. This we see all through the salvation history of the creation - right from the moment sin entered the realm of existence, God's promise has been alive to redeem the whole creation and restore it to life. The plan of this redemptive love was revealed to humanity in varied ways, through the prophets where were sent to "go and tell" as we see in the first reading today, through events and experiences, and finally through the person of Jesus Christ, the promise come alive. All through the beckoning call was that human persons and humanity, as representatives of the whole creation, respond to this revelation from their hearts. 

That the redemptive design of God shall be fulfilled only when we respond to, in our inner freedom, is exemplified in the Christ event - where Mary beholds the revelation and responds to it whole heartedly: I am the handmaid of the Lord, where Jesus beholds his call to be the Lamb of God and responds in all sincerity: thy will be done. Revelation and Response summarise the crucial dynamic of the Reign, which remains to be discovered. 

Discovering the fullness in Christ: Discovering the Reign is discovering the Fullness in Christ. In Christ we see the fullness of everything, the fullness of the entire creation. We are called to recognise that fullness in Christ, "who alone is wisdom" as St Paul reminds us in the first reading today. The Word, the Wisdom, the Son of God reveals to us that our life's meaning is in our union with God. It is this perfect union with God that will amoung to the Reign of God - the fullness that we have lost due to our confused priorities, compromised principles and complicated personal choices - which we call in a word, "sins". It is only Christ, who comes to be like us in everything but sin, who can manifest to us this fullness that can take us to the promised salvation. 

Discovering the Godliness in Christ: Discovering the Reign is recognising the Godliness in Christ, who is the visible image of invisible God, in whom God was pleased to have all God's fullness dwell (Col 1:15, 19). The world thought it was making space for Christ  when he came - the famous Christmas narration is that isn't it - that he came unto his own and his own received him not (Jn 1:11)! But like David in the first reading today, the world thinks it has to accomodate God and give God the space or decide whether God will have a space or not here. How foolish and childish of us to look at it that way! Is it not God who sustains us and wills us to exist, and accomplish all that we do? We will do well to recognise that and come to terms with that truth as soon as possible in our lives, and stop making of ourselves the fools that the Psalmist spoke of -  "the fool says in his heart, there is no God" (Ps 14:1). Christ comes to reveal to us Godliness in such simple terms, for us to see, behold and understand.

Discovering the humanness in Christ: Discovering the Reign is learning to see the humanness in Christ. There is no doubt Christ revealed God to us, but more primarily, he revealed ourselves to us; Christ revealed to us who we really are - the children of a Loving Father, the image of a Compassionate God, the beloveds of a Searching Shepherd, the covenantal people of a God madly in love with God's own! Humanness is all these - it is not merely about sinfulness and limitedness, selfishness and craftiness - it is about love, compassion, forgiveness and relationship. Jesus reveals that in his very self, in his life choices and in his fathomless fidelity to his Father. Our humanness has to strive to reflect the humanness that Jesus reveals, and that is the challenge of discovering the Reign. 

The season of Advent is coming to an end, with this clarion call - to discover the Reign amidst us, to behold it and to sustain it, that the entire creation will know and realise the immense love of God. We are very close to contemplating the great event of incarnation - the highest revelation of God's love to world. May these few hours left aid us to meditate more on the loving mystery we are about to behold and celebrate. 

 

Celebrating the Reign - a Checkpoint!

THE WORD IN ADVENT - Third week Saturday

December 23, 2023 - Malachi 3:1-4,23-24; Luke 1: 57-66

We began this week with a call to celebrate the Reign. When the Messiah had to come, there were prophets sent and messages delivered. And more were promised. Elijah was promised as a preparation and John the Baptist came, as we see in the Gospel today, as a messenger before the Son of Man. Today the promise remains alive, that even before the second coming, or that day of Lord, we will be made to know. That is why St. Paul said - it is not as if we are in the darkness that the day should surprise us (1 Thess 5:4). We have known it. We know it. Hence, the question - how prepared are we?

Malachi today speaks of the refiner's fire and the fullers' alkali - that is the type of preparation we need to take on. We are called to sit in front of that fire and purify ourselves, for the time is near. We are challenged to make a clinical evaluation of our beings. We are very close to the day - if we miss this moment, we shall soon be in the midst of the festivities and we shall celebrate certainly, but without a lasting effect on our internal selves. 

John the Baptist is given to us as a sign, a reminder, a warning - like a virus alert that comes from a computer system. The alert is only an alert - it will not set right the impending disaster. If we wish to, we have to take action - avail of all the antivirus possibilities and purge our life of those elements that are affecting our life in God. This is the moment and this is the day! We are called to take stock of our journey thus far and prepare ourselves for a true and meaningful celebration - our prayers, novenas and wreathes, eucharistic celebrations and the sacrament of reconciliation, are they not sufficient measures? 

The Antiphon once again calls upon Emmanuel, the God with us, God is here, now, near and just beside us! Are we prepared to behold the presence, the power and the grace of the imminent God, the incarnate Word, the life giving Spirit? Are we prepared enough to stand erect, hold our heads high and encounter our Saviour who is already here on our thresholds? 

We are at a checkpoint - to check ourselves, not in the sense of a judgement and a sentencing, but in the sense of an ongoing journey. We are here to take stock, shed unneccessary baggage, refill the right energy and embark on another phase of our journey. Once we encounter the Lord we shall have all that is necessary to forge ahead, but to encounter the Lord, are we ready as yet?

     

Celebrating the Reign - the Joy in God's Strength

THE WORD IN ADVENT - Third week Friday

December 22, 2023 - 1 Samuel 1:24-28; Luke 1: 46-56

Joy comes from what we have experienced from the hands of the Lord. Isn't that the Reign of God - the might of God, the power and the magnificence of God, the omnipotence that is revealed in ordinary things of life? Those who are attentive to the Reign, are capable of identifying the hand of God in their daily life. In corrollary, only those who develop the capacity to see the hand of God in their daily experiences, are forming themselves to be Reign-persons. 

We have in the Word today, two Reign-persons - Hannah and Mary, who identified the hand of God in their life. They found a  great presence of the strength of God in their lives and they proclaimed it aloud. We see Hannah in the Temple praying and she sings out that hymn of praise which we prayed as the Responsorial psalm. Luke decides to put those very words in the lips of Mary - because she found herself too amidst the magnificence of God and was a persons highly aware of it - we read that part in the Gospel today. 

The joy of the Reign is the joy in the strength of the Lord which is constantly made manifest in our lives. It requires that first of all, we are recognizant of this strength of the Lord at work in our lives; secondly, that we are ready to recognise the difference it makes; and thirdly, that we grow ever more prepared to surrender to that Strength, instead of relyind solely on our own personal strength or the strength of those who are around. 

The antiphon for the day presents to  us the Lord as the King of the Nations, the king of the people who is the cornerstone of the community of faith, the children of God, the Reign-community. King, because the Lord rules and governs, and is the author of all, who made us from the dust. In front of the Lord, we need to humbly submit and joyfully proclaim every sign of God's powerful presence - that is the lesson we have from the two great women we meet today, as from many others in the Biblical history. 

God's strength surrounds us, all that we need to do is believe in it, submit to it and and rejoice in it, that we experience that strength and trasmit the same to others, empowering all around us, thus becoming usherers of the Reign.   

Celebrating the Reign - the Joy of Relationships

THE WORD IN ADVENT - Third week  Thursday

December 21, 2023 -  Song of Songs 2: 8-14; Luke 1: 39-45

We have been thinking these days of the joy in the presence of the Lord, in the promises of the Lord and the joy in faith... these in fact point to a joy that arises from a true and profound relationship. The Word today presents to us this joy, the joy that comes from relationships, relationships of true love. 

The first reading gives us an interesting picture of how a relationship of faith should be - it should be like a longing for the beloved, says the Song of Songs. Not just happiness in the presence of a person, but a longing for the presence, a lively and dynamic initiative to make that presence felt. And the joy arises from there, from that involvement, from those initiatives, from that reaching out, from that characteristic "going forth" of the community of faith. 

"Let me hear your voice..."  - that longing expressed in the Song of Songs, is reflected in the Gospel when Elisabeth cries out "the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy!" Leaping for joy at the voice of the Lord presumes our readiness to listen to the voice and live by it. Not listening is a loss; listening and not acting is unbecoming of a disciple or uncharacteristic of a son or a daughter; and listening, acting and longing for more is the joy of the Reign. 

The antiphon of the day, presents to us the coming of the Lord, as the radiant dawn, the Morning Star, the splendour of eternal light, the sun of justice who shines on those who dwell in darkness, calling them to light and to happiness, to virtue and joy! Every moment of our life, the radiant dawn, the sun of justice continues to call us to the light of virtue and wisdom, which arises from the relationship we have with God, as children of God, as people of God. 

Our choice for God makes us reach out in joy, just as Mary does to Elizabeth. Such a reaching out is carrying God to the other, by the love that is shared and the care that is shown. Certainly in such relationships there is joy, a leaping joy, a joy that becomes the splendid announcement of the presence of God. This, in short, is the experience of the Reign, the joy in relationships. 

Celebrating the Reign - the Joy of Faith

THE WORD IN ADVENT - Third week Wednesday

December 20, 2023 - Isaiah 7: 10-14; Luke 1: 26-38

God-with-us, or Emmanuel, is the most profound of all promises and it evokes an experience intensely related to our spirits, because we long for an assuring presence in our life - all of us, even the most strong among us. It is a longing that is inherent to every human person, which can be very easily connected to our faith, if we believe that faith is first and foremost beholding a mighty presence that reveals itself to us. That is why, the joy of the Reign is a joy of faith, the joy of receiving, beholding and enjoying the gift of faith, the gift of beholding the presence of God with us. 

The joy of faith consists in our capacity to listen to God, a God who speaks, promises, instructs and interprets the ordinary events of our life, on a daily basis.

The joy of faith consists in our ability to see the Lord present beside us in the most difficult of times, in moments of possible delusion and and surrender to the presence, trusting in the goodness of the One who is the Lord of the Universe.

The joy of faith consists in our readiness to see the hand of God at work, even at the darkest moments of our lives, to feel always overshadowed by the power of the One who is in control of everything. 

That faith is the Key, as the antiphon of the day reminds us - the Key of David who opens the gates of the eternal Reign, the Key that open what no one can close, and closes what no one can open - the power of the hand of God that is at work in history. Faith permits me to see that hand, behold that hand and hold on to that hand, in trust and in love. 

Faith fills me with joy - with faith, we can rejoice even when we run into problem and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance; endurance develops strength of character, character strengthens our confident hope of salvation and this hope shall never lead us to disappointment. Fill us Lord, with the joy of faith today!

Celebrating the Reign - the Joy in the Promises

THE WORD IN ADVENT - Third week Tuesday

December 19, 2023 - Judges 13:2-7,24-25; Luke 1: 5-25

The Joy of the Reign lies in the promises of the Lord! The joy is not all about what we experience today or what we expect today, but in the timeless and eternal promises that the Lord has given us, God's beloved children and the people of the Covenant. "You shall conceive and bear a son", "Your wife shall bear a son" - we find these two promises in the Word today - made to two couples who were apparently beyond the possibility of bearing a child. They are certainly not the only ones... we can begin counting right from the case of Abraham, right up to the birth of Jesus - everywhere what we see is the "promise" active, alive and actualised. 

Be it Samson or John the Baptist - they had their call clearly defined and they were instrumental in fulfilling the promises of God. In history, we see that God has availed Godself of varied people who received the promises of the Lord, trusted in them and thus became themselves bearers of that promise onward to God's people. Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, David, Samson, Samuel and finally John the Baptist - they were all promise bearers. And finally, Jesus was the ultimate promise and promise bearer. 

When the Lord grants us a promise, there is an injunction that comes along - of course the Lord's promise is a covenant and therefore it involves equally both parties: God and us. For example, today when Samson and John were promised, their mothers were instructed as to what to do and what not to do! They knew that their child was special, a promise to look forward to. After all, every child that is born in this world is a promise, isn't it? We are never left hopeless, the Lord's promises accompany us all through and in these promises lies our true joy, the joy of the Reign. 

As the antiphon for the day explains to us - the Root of Jesse, is the sign to the people... like the experience of Abraham, hoping against hope, we see the promise of the Lord coming to life even there where seems to be no possibility. That is why we proclain, it is the Lord who is our hope; our trust is in the Lord right from our birth! 

Let our celebration of the Reign be firmly rooted in the promises of the Lord, the eternal promise that makes us people of the Lord, people of the Covenant, people of the Reign.