A Return to hope... ultimately to love!

THE WORD IN LENT - Saturday, Third week in Lent

March 29, 2025 - Hosea 6:1-6; Luca 18: 9-14

The discourse on Obeying the Lord, that we have been having in past few days, is brought to its climax today, as the Word declares - what God wants is love and not sacrifice! That is the secret: a return to hope actually is ultimately, a return to love! We are called to love and everything in life has to be an expression of that love - the two tier love that is presented to us: love of God and love of the neighbours. 

Love and not sacrifice is a dictum that can communicate three fundamental messages to those who are serious about Christian Spirituality: 

First of all, it is a shift from the doing paradigm to a being pardigm. We are challenged to concentrate on who we are  at the core of our beings and make our doing a simple and sincere expression of what we are. The other way cannot make me neither christian nor spiritual - that is trying to do a lot of things and from there intending to define my identity. That would lead to the peculiar problem of today - the secularisation of faith. 

The second message is to liberate ourselves from ourselves and focus more on the other! What I do, what I give up, what good things I accomplish - these are of course important elements of discussion, but a true Christian spirituality would redirect me to look at the other, what the other needs, what the other feels, and what the other experiences on a daily basis.

Thirdly, it is a reminder of the precedence and centrality of love in Chrisian Spirituality. When done out of sincere love, everything goes well with the Lord. That is why Augustine dared to say, "love and do what you wish!" What we do, might end up a failure, not bear the right effects, not result in anything lasting... but if it is really done in love, the Lord would approve of it - and we would go home justified!

A Return to hope... to love the One Lord

THE WORD IN LENT - Friday, Third week in Lent

March 28, 2025 - Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12: 28-34

We are reflecting these days on doing the will of God, by way of our obedience to the commandments, the precepts or the teachings of the Lord. It is not simply following a rule, or abiding by a law, or keeping up a custom... it is all about a relationship with God - how absolute that relationship is, and how uncompromising our dedication is! 

First of all, the compromises might come in, when we find excuses to not follow the rule or reasons to break the law or justifications to define exceptions - whatever name we give them, dispensation or allowance or remission and so on. But what matters here is the motive, the real and the innermost motive, and not what is apparently presented. At the level of the conscience we need to come to grips with it. 

The other mode of compromise is what is more dangerous, and the prophet speaks to us about it: creating our own gods... making our own idols, not only in the literal sense, but in the most applicative or figurative sense. When we make riches, conveniences, comfort, progress, advancement, happiness, success, human respect, status, prestige, power, control etc. the priorities of our decision making, we are making of them little gods who will slowly grow and begin occupying larger and larger space in our lives, be it as indivuduals or as communities.

The remedy, as the Word presents to us today is - listening to the voice of the Lord! And the Jesus explains to us that, as the first and the most fundamental commandment: to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The commandment that follows is a sequel to it, rather a verification of the former - to love our neighbours. It is the latter, true love for the other, that makes sure that I am not making a god for myself, or making a god of myself... but remain loyal to the call that I have received from my One God - to love him in everything. 

 

A Return to hope... to turn to that Voice!

THE WORD IN LENT - Thursday, Third week in Lent

March 27, 2025 - Jeremiah 7: 23-28; Luke 11: 14-23

Yesterday, w began the discourse on obedience to the Lord, obedience to the will of God, obedience to the eternal plan that God has for us. But how do we obey without knowing it... which means the Lord takes an extra effort to make it known to us, notwithstanding the fact that we habitually ignore all those efforts. This is what we see the Lord instructing Jeremiah in the first reading today - the Lord is almost preparing him for a rejection, because that is what the people have always done. 

In the Gospel we see Jesus facing the same rejection from the people, inspite of all the signs and wonders that were given to them. The call here is turn to the Voice of the Lord - that Voice that reaches us in so many varied ways: through those who speak to us directly the Word of God, through those who inspire us by their ordinary conversations or daily experiences, through extraordinary events that make us pause a moment and take a look, through ordinary and regular events that we most of the times take for granted, through signs of happenings be they glad or sad... in varied ways, the Voices keeps calling our attention; and our call is to turn to that Voice.

Not hearing the voice and not heeding to its call, it is true that we are not with God! More than that, we will be held responsible, for two reasons - one, that we failed to be that Voice for the others around us; two, that we distracted the others too from listening to that voice by our negligence and lack of witness! That is why Jesus warns us categorically: those who are not with me are against me; those who do not gather with me scatter what I came to gather. There is no neutrality here - either we are with God or we are against the Lord! 

A Return to Hope... towards a fruitful obedience

THE WORD IN LENT - Wednesday, Third week in Lent

March 26, 2025 - Deuteronomy 4: 1,5-9; Matthew 5: 17-19

I have not come to abolish the Law, but to complete them, to fulfill them, to take them towards the fullness and fruitfulness. Speaking of hope, we know it means that at the end of all that may go well or on the contrary, the Lord's will shall be done, and God's will is always for my welfare! This is hope and the space for God's will within it is non negligible. One of the ways in which this aspect of hope as God's design for us, comes to the fore in the reality of the commandments. 

The commandments which become the fundamentals of our ethical living and Christian mores, is a crucial part of the scaffolding that keeps our hope intact. It refers to a simple conviction that the Lord has already thought through what is good for us and lets us know by the commandments - as to what to do and what to avoid. Hence following the Law, is the source of hope, peace and serenity. However, not all that appears to be obeying the law is unequivocally wholesome! Being legalistic can at times take us towards self righteousness more than sanctity. Jesus is aware of it, and that is why he reorients our attentions towards the fulfillment of the laws - that come from the fruitfulness of our choices. 

Obedience, as we spoke about it just yesterday, cannot be just doing something because it has to be done. Where is the human choice and freedom involved in such an action or such a decision? Obedience of Faith is much more: knowing the will of God, embracing it with love and carrying it out in life with purpose. That is the way that obedience can become fruitful. Returning to hope is all about choosing this obedience to the commandments, which are but God's will made easy. Beginning today, we shall be led to a deeper understanding of what obedience to God's will is - first and foremost, it leads to me to a sense of fulfillment, a sense of meaning and a sense of hope. You Words O Lord, are spirit, they are life. 

Obedience - a sign of the pilgrims of hope!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

March 25, 2025: The Solemnity of Annunciation

Isaiah 7: 10-14, 8:10; Hebrews 10: 4-10; Luke 1: 26-38

Obedience can take various degrees to it: the first is, doing what is said. Doing what is said is not entirely easy, unless a person is so dull headed that he or she has no idea or nothing to do on one's own. Obeying commands, keeping the rules, fulfilling the requirements - these fall under this category and they are virtues in themselves without doubt.

The second degree in obedience, is that of doing what is intended. This goes a bit beyond the first, in as much as the person who wishes to obey, is interested in knowing what is intended by what is asked of the person. It is not merely obeying rules but understanding the intention behind the rules; it is not merely fulfilling the requirements, but knowing what the purpose is behind the requirement; it is not merely carrying out what is said, but being interested in doing what is not said. This is more meritorious than the first and basic degree of obedience and here the free will, personal choice and integral participation are the highlights.

What Jesus teaches us, and what we celebrate today in our Blessed Mother is a much higher the degree of obedience. It is not merely doing what is said or what is intended, but living one's life according to what is wished, willed and planned by someone who wishes your good - this is where the aspect of hope plays a vital role. This is the most matured type of obedience, the obedience in the Spirit: a will and choice to submit to the will of the One who has created and called and commissioned me with this life, because my hope inspires me and hope never deludes. 

At times here, one may not even know what is expected of him or her, most of the times one may not know what would be the real outcome of it, but in spite of all these, the person makes an absolute choice and says: 'Here I am; I come to do your will; be it done unto me according to your Word'. That requires an assistance and strengthening from the Spirit of courage, hope and childlike trust.

The Solemnity today affirms that this obedience leads to salvation, salvation which means fullness of life, fullness of joy and fullness of meaning experienced in the ordinariness of the day, filled with hope. Responding to our call to be pilgrims of hope today, the challenge presented to us is, to dare to submit in totality to God's will, that is true obedience of the pilgrims of hope!

A Return to hope... towards humility and truth

THE WORD IN LENT - Monday, Third week in Lent

March 24, 2025 - 2 Kings 5: 1-15; Luke 4: 24-30

Hope is a gift and it is gratuitous; we would be at faluth to think it is our right or our prerogative. However, it is our prerogative, in as much as we are children of the Lord of hope. But the moment we become haughty about it, we may lose the essence of being so. Truth never ceases to exist, whether it is recognised or not. The more open we are to perceive it, the more we get closer to it; the more we are egoistic, the more likely it is that we miss it and that does not mean it did not exist. 

In Naman who is presented to us in the first reading today, we see someone who was about to miss out on a life time opportunity of healing, just because he was haughty and pride blinded his sight. However, there was the servant maid who was able to put sense into him - blessed is the Lord who hides things from the most erudite of people but reveals the truth to the little ones. And fortunately, although only after an ulterior beseeching, he chose to be humble and he discovered the truth, finding hope in life. 

Jesus cites the same Naman to the people of his times, and warns them of their pride and obstinacy. Not all were ready to take that in, they wanted instead to get rid of the one who brings it to their notice. In fact, they thought they did away with the problem when they crucified Jesus finally. Least did they realise that Truth cannot be buried, it never ceases to exist. We would do well, Jesus beseeches us, to take note of the promises of the Lord and our unworthiness of beholding it. The more we become aware of the unworthiness, the more the Lord deigns that we behold the Truth. Hence, the journey of return to hope, is the path towards humility and truth. 

A RETURN TO HOPE... TOWARDS THE FRUITS

Burning bush, Turning people & Warning Christ

March 23, 2025 - THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

Exodus 3: 1-8, 13-15; 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6, 10-12; Luke 13: 1-9

Burning Bush

Refers to God, who wishes to act on our behalf; who intervenes in ways known only to God; who makes the ground we stand on, a holy ground!

Turning People

We are hard headed and stone hearted that whatever sign or wonder that God manifested, we are intent and obstinate on doing what we wish to and holding on what we desired!

Warning Christ

As the personification of the eternal and unlimited mercy of God, Christ offers us timely and repeated warning that the time is near and the Reign of God is close... We need to move swiftly towards the fruits we are called to bear!

A Return to hope... to the eternal mercy of God!

WORD IN LENT - Saturday, Second week in Lent

March 22, 2025 - Micah 7: 14-15, 18-20; Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 

A return to hope, is a call that we have, not just this lent or not just at a particular time, but all our lives. We are called to get back to the Lord and the Lord never hesitates to lead us to himself or to embrace us when we reach out. The Lord "delights in showing mercy" the first reading tells us. God does not grudgingly extend his mercy, because obviously we are so unworthy of it. The Lord is forever merciful and endlessly merciful, eternal is his mercy - because it is not that the Lord has compassion; but the Lord is compassion and love; the Lord is mercy. 

But can that make us think that we can do whatever we like and the mercy of God will come reach us? There is a little hitch here... because we have to choose to receive that mercy. The mercy is in abundance and never refused with God, but we have to look for it, ask for it and behold it, in our concrete situation of life. The offer remains, but it is upto us to take it. 

When can we take advantage of that offer... not when we think, anyway the mercy is in abundance and it is for all, therefore I could do whatever I wish to and the mercy will be mine. I have a personal responsibility to avail myself of that mercy and I can do it, by coming to my senses and coming back to it, from the farlands that I have crossed over to! 

Like the younger son in the parable today, first I need to realise I have gone away and faraway; secondly, feel sorry that I have gone thus; and thirdly, decide to come back to the mercy. I need to decide and get up and walk back - RETURN... to that eternal mercy of God. The Lord never tires to forgive us, embrace us back into his love and make his once again his beloved sons and daughters. 

A Return to hope... hope in adversities

THE WORD IN LENT - Friday, Second week in Lent

March 21, 2025 - Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28; Matthew 21:33-43,45-46

Living in hope does not mean everything will be in my favour; living for God does not guarantee that every thing in my life shall be pleasant and enjoyable. On the contrary, when I begin to choose God, when I begin to choose truth, when I begin to choose hope, precisely then my sufferings, troubles and temptations shall increase and intensify! How prepared am I? Yesterday the Word said, when I hope in the Lord, I am like that tree planted on the banks of the river... the question is, when tough times come can I stay there with hope, letting out my roots to the waters that run deep? 

They are specially the moments of difficulties and struggles which we could call the moments of adversities, that define the strength of my faith and the presence or absence of my hope. Hope in adversities, defines the life of a true Christian who does not hesistate to pick his or her cross and follow the Master... towards death, but ultimately towards resurrection.

We have in the first reading, Joseph of the Old Testament, who is faced with adversity in his life, and this was not the end of it. He would be facing many more such and even worse! But he goes about them all without a word of lament, because he had his trust pinned on the Lord, his hope stongly founded on the relationship with God (faith). While on our part it is a lesson to inculcate within us a sense of never dying hope and never failing trust in the Lord, on the Lord's part it is an assurance of his promise: for I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare not for your ruin (cf. Jeremiah 29:11). 

Jesus alludes to the experience of Joseph, combining it to what he was being put through, in the parable we find in the Gosple passage today! Hope in adversities - what great model can we have than the Crucifix that stands right in front of our eyes, whenever we enter the sanctuary of the presence of the Lord. That is limit to our hope, already lived as a witness by the Son of God... that we go to the farthest extent in trusting the Lord, holding the hand of God and going ahead on our life's journey! 

 

A Return to hope... to the right sense of trust

THE WORD IN LENT - Thursday, Sec0nd week in Lent

March 20, 2025 - Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 16: 19-31

Hope, what is it all about? It is about the future... that everything is going to be fullfilled. Now the question is, where does that feeling come from? From our wealth, from our power, from our strength, from our capacity to do things, from our ability to pull strings? 

Hope come from a trust is that is built up, out of a relationship. That relationship with God is faith. Hence hope is based on the trust that arises from our faith! The question remains: where does come hope rest? On human beings or human realities, or on God and God's promises? This contrast is brought in direct terms in the first reading where we are called reflect on how blessed the one who places his or her trust entirely in the Lord; and on the corollary, what a curse one brings upon oneself the more he or she trusts in the things that are passing!

There is a second contrast that offered to the one who goes towards the right sense of truth and the other who does otherwise - the former is like the trees by the river, even when apparently there seems no water in the stream, they find the unseen ground water that sustains them and keeps them alive. Whereas the latter are like the bushes in the middle of nowhere - when it rains they come up and look so dense and green, but soon find their end as the dryness takes over!

There is yet another contrast that Jesus offers in the parable that he narrates, providing a grounded illustration of the facts spoken of by the Word today - Lazarus who had no one else to rely on and was rewarded with the eternal bliss; and the rich man who had nothing else to bother but his own ease and wellbeing! We know where the right sense of trust remains and what takes us onwards in our journey of hope.