Peter and Paul... You and me!

WORD 2day: Saturday after the Ascension Sunday

June 7, 2025: Acts 28: 16-20, 30-31; John 21: 10-25

These days we continuously hear of Paul and Peter, the two great leaders who led the band of apostles in their proclamation of the Gospel and the initial formation of the Church. They announced the Gospel in season and out of season, in the prison or out of it, in political custody or in the public squares, in health and in sickness, among the faithful or among skeptics, among simple peasants or to learned philosophers. Nothing held them back from preaching the Word.

Looking for ideal situations to evangelise, bemoaning the political atmosphere or the social apprehensions, finding excuses for remaining unnoticed Christians and justifying our lack of initiatives towards evangelisation: these are very common these days. Tomorrow we will be celebrating the feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit causing the birth of the Church.

Let us pray for the Spirit, the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline, the Spirit of courage and wisdom, the Spirit who strengthens apostles and empowers martyrs, that we may be persons filled with the Spirit and witnessing to the Gospel without ceasing. Peter and Paul are no more, if we do not become Peters, Pauls, Aquillas and Priscillas!

Following the Lord - No turning back!

WORD 2day: Friday after the Ascension Sunday

June 6, 2025: Acts 25: 13b-21; John 21: 15-19

The total import of following the Lord may not be known to us right at the beginning when we intend to. But the Lord does not spare the moment. He instructs right from the beginning what can, or what is sure to befall someone who intends to follow Him. Whoever is not ready to take up his daily cross and follow me, is not worthy of me, said Jesus categorically (cf. Mt 10:38).

St. Paul was more than certain of everything that awaited him, the sufferings and even death for the sake of the Lord. Jesus himself prepares Peter in his post-resurrection encounter with him. Invariably all Jesus's apostles, except James it is said, died the death of martyrs. They were prepared for it and they even considered it their privilege. It was in fact the finest way of expressing their love for their Master and Lord.

Today, with the increasing number of anti-Christian skeptics and anti-Reign elements, our challenge to be disciples becomes more and more demanding. However, it remains categorical as ever. There can be no other choice or any compromises. Following the Lord means following Him in everything, right till the end, even unto death! Let death not frighten us but beckon us to be faithful to the one whom we chose to follow.

I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back - let that be our perennial song!

The Mystical Union in God

WORD 2day: Thursday after Ascension Sunday

June 5, 2025: Acts 22:30, 23:6-11; John 17: 20-26

Just as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, we are invited to be one in the Father and the Son, through the Holy Spirit. Jesus' prayer for his disciples, that is, for us to the Father has a beautiful challenge to pose to us. The challenge does not consist in doing anything or accomplishing anything great... but it consists of being, simply being, being with the Lord, just being one with the Lord!

However, it is not that simple! As both the readings point to, the world at large does not "know" the Lord, nor does it identify itself with the Lord; in a way it,  stands aloof from or sometimes even against the Lord. The culture of death that prevails, the insensitive economy that rules, the inhuman politics that dominates... these are signs of opposition to God and to the Gospel. It is in this context that the Lord invites us to bear witness, 'just as in Jerusalem, also in Rome'.

From the religious circles to the political arena, from the academic domain to grass root social praxis, we are called to bear witness to the Lord and to the Lord's good news of love - the love that the Father has for the Son, which is the same love that He has for us! We are called to be One in love, we are united in the love of God. We are in the Lord and the Lord is in us and We are made one in the Lord - let us celebrate this mystical union in God, that is the quintessence of Christian faith, the faith in the Risen Lord.

The Preoccupation for the Flock

WORD 2day: Wednesday after the Ascension Sunday

June 4, 2025: Acts 20: 28-38; John 17: 11b-19

The readings today present to us the preoccupation that Jesus and St.Paul have for the flock that they leave behind, as St. Paul sets off to Jerusalem and Jesus contemplates returning to his Father! The total dedication that both had towards those entrusted to them is known to us and it is best expressed in the phrase that St. Paul uses quoting his Master: it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Keeping the faith, being true to the message of the Lord, persevering in the tradition in which one is brought up, not letting oneself be swayed by newer teachings and fancier presentations...these are the preoccupations that are expressed here and proposed to us. These concerns prompt to us two important qualities that are necessary: Spiritual Sincerity and Constant Discernment.

The times today are marked by a certain fickle minded hopping from tradition to tradition in the name of "search" for the truth and reckless trial-and-error attempts of innumerable religions, sects and factions. If they are spiritually sincere and they discerned with rigour, well and good. But if these switches come from an unfounded mind and a lack of persevering dedication, they are the dangers that Paul and Jesus warn us against.

Spiritual sincerity is to be true the innermost promptings and Constant discernment is the way to reach that true core! The Spirit gives us that grace and we are in the novena towards the great feast of the Spirit... let us invoke the Spirit with love and courage!

The Real glory of a True disciple

WORD 2day: Tuesday after the Ascension Sunday

June 3, 2025: Acts 20: 17-27; John 17: 1-11a

Both Paul and Jesus are seen bidding farewell to their loved ones in the Word today. There is a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of having accomplished the task entrusted to them! To live my everyday life conscious of the fact that I am commissioned, that I dont have all the time that is available, and that I have to play my part right... that will give me a sense of vocation and a feeling of satisfaction.

"Father the hour has come, give glory to your Son, that your Son may glorify you!" prays Jesus. The glory that he talks of is the baptism of blood, the cup of suffering that Jesus was preparing to take up! Not just himself, but all those who believed him were destined to that cup and to that baptism says Jesus (Mk 10:39; Mt 20:23).

St. Paul understood this perfectly. Though he knew well, instructed by the Holy Spirit, that suffering and imprisonment awaited wherever he went, he does not hesitate. He was more than prepared for the cup of suffering, for the baptism of blood! Today we hear him say that in terms so clear: I consider life of no importance to me! For him all that mattered was to carry the Good news to the farthest that he could!

How many times I would have languished that I don't get any consolation from God for belonging to God, for being on God's side and for speaking on behalf of God! Do I really understand in Jesus' terms, the 'real' glory of a 'true' disciple?

Knowing the Spirit - the graduation time!

WORD 2day: Monday after Ascension Sunday

June 2, 2025 - Acts 19: 1-8; John 16: 29-33

It is graduation time now... you ask a child this season - which class are you studying? You would get a typical reply, something like: fourth to fifth. smiling? Yes... it is graduation time.

I have conquered the world, says the Lord and why are we still going desperate about managing it? Because we are not yet convinced that the Lord has conquered the world. The Divine Counselor is right within us, and strangely we are we still looking all over for directions and suggestions! Because we do not have sufficient knowledge of the Spirit.

In the Word today we see people graduating to the next levels... Paul introduces Apollos and others to the Holy Spirit; Jesus finds his disciples finally beginning to believe him. The call is the same to us today: as we have celebrated the feast of Ascension just yesterday, the call, as we said is, to graduate. To grow into people of the Spirit. The journey has begun... today is already the 3rd day of the Novena in preparation for the feast of the Pentecost. The invitation is that we become more aware of the indwelling presence of the Lord in our lives. The Lord rests with us and the Lord is acting on or behalf. Why not we make room to behold it in our day to day experience?

The Spirit of the Lord is all around us and once we behold the presence and be filled with that presence, we would be able to understand that our Lord and Saviour has conqured the world! Knowing the Spirit is the task given to us today, getting to know the Spirit that we may not react as the people did to Paul: we do not know that there is something called the Holy Spirit. At times our fears and thoughtlessness can exhibit such responses unconsciously.

The primary key to being people of the Spirit: Knowing the Spirit!

UP WITH THE LORD

The Event, the Effect & the Edict - the 7-UP

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord: June 1, 2025

Acts 1: 1-11; Ephesians 1: 17-23; Luke 24: 46-53 

As the Lord goes up, let us reflect on the 7-UP... 

The Lord ascends today to his Father and our Father! It is not an abandoning, as he himself very rightly had already assured us. It is an invitation! The invitation is to Go Up with the Lord. And this invitation to go up is given in 7 steps... let's call it 7-UP!

In the first reading we are presented with the THE EVENT: 

Christ ascends to the right hand of the Father!

Christ, GAVE UP the divinity and became like one of us (Phil 2). 

     How prepared are we to give up! The world tends to tell us to hold on, hold on to power and domination, to popularity and gain, to limelight and adulation. That is how we prepare even the upcoming children, convincing them it is important to prove oneself and make everyone know one's own utility and importance.

Christ GOES UP today, by his obedience and fulfillment of the Divine Will (Heb 10:7) 

     Going up, is a consequence and it happens because the Father draws us up! The Father who had sent Jesus, the Christ to the world, had found in him, an absolute obedience and a childlike trust - those are the very messages imparted to us by the Ascending Lord, in order that we may measure up to the standards of the Father and go up.

Christ will SHOW UP leading everything to its fulfillment (Heb 10:36)

     You will see the Son of Man come the way you saw him go, says the messenger from the Lord. Yes, the Lord shall show up, soon - but we need not panic or fret. Christ shall show up and we shall rejoice in it, if we live a life that is founded on the words and the commands of the Lord. 

The second reading highlights THE EFFECT: 

Because of the Son who was raised by God to God's right hand, you and I are made worthy to accede to the presence of God!

We are RAISED UP by the fact that Christ became like us (2 Cor 8:9) 

     As Peter would remind us elsewhere, 'we were once no people; but now we are made people of God'. We are the people of God and not that we deserve to be! We were raised up, we were given an identity that is so great and enviable... the challenge is that we live up to it. 

We are DRESSED UP by the virtue of our baptism, (Col 2:12) 

    Receive this white cloth and bring it unsullied to that encounter with the Lord at the end of your life, was the challenge we accepted at our baptism. We are dressed up and our character is defined in such precise terms. All that we need to know is shape ourselves into that character, be transformed into it and grow in that identity. 

We are BUILT UP into the family of God (1 Cor 10:17).

     The challenge I have received is not just mine - its ours. The call is given within a family, the family of God's people, God's sons and daughters. I am built into a family, a temple, an abode for God. I am living my call fully only as long as I am living in unison with the rest of God's family- divisions, discriminations, and defamations are all deviations!

The Gospel from Luke reminds us of what Jesus passed on to us, THE EDICT: 

You are and you shall be my Witnesses on the Earth!

We are challenged to STAND UP for the Lord in the World today (Rom 12:2) 

     The world has its own standards, priorities and agenda. If I am truly a son or a daughter of God, I have stand of the Lord amidst all these contrasting and contesting priorities. That is why St. Paul gave a standing order: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed! To be transformed is to be become like the Lord - if we live in the Lord, we shall die and rise in the Lord! Ultimately, we shall go up with the Lord!

 

Reminders of the presence of God

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

May 31, 2025: The Feast of Visitation

Zephaniah 3: 14-18a; Luke 1: 39-56

We celebrate the feast of the Visitation of our Blessed Mother to Elizabeth. When Mary entered Elizabeth's household, there was a sense of God that was felt, for two reasons. 

Firstly, Mary was carrying Jesus within her and the effect was felt! Second, Mary herself was transformed into the presence of God for Elizabeth!

The first reading today turns our attention to the words of Zephaniah explaining what the Lord in our midst is doing: God exults, God renews and God dances! God exults in the wonderful gifts that we are to Godself; God renews those parts of us that are not as good as they can be; God dances with joy over everything that we are able to do in God's eternal plan.

Anyone who expresses this exultation of the Lord, this call for renewal and the rejoicing of the Lord in God's children, is a reminder of the presence of God. In fact when Elizabeth says, 'what have I done to deserve that the Mother of my Lord should visit me!', she becomes the reminder of the presence of God to Mary! When Mary turns to Elizabeth and says, 'My heart exults in the Lord and my soul rejoices in the Lord my saviour', she becomes the reminder of the Lord's presence to Elizabeth and to the entire household! 

We are called to be reminders of the presence of God, to be the presences of God to those around us. When we exult in the Lord, when we do our part to renew those around us, correcting them with care and love, when we rejoice in the goodness of others and the good things that happen to them, we become God's presence amidst God's people! 

Can we be today, God's presences wherever we are, and a reminder of that presence to whomever we meet? 

The path of perfect perseverance

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

May 30, 2025 - Acts 18:9-18; John 16:20-23

The Word today could lead us to think of two phrases quite familiar in everyday parlance. The first one is 'the path of least resistance' - in the name of being natural and spontaneous, going with the trends, keeping abreat with the times, there are numerous compromises that are made and very many values that are lost,  thanks to this mode of thinking.

The second phrase quite equally popular is 'the path of least persistence' - advocating the theory that there is no virtue in insisting on making something work, while in practicality it does not. It is the famous mindset of trying out, just trying out. Just give it a try, and that is all about life. The famous tee shirt phrase - just do it, sums it all. The first failure, people quit, and they do so without any qualms of conscience.

The path of least resistance or the path of least persistence seem to be the trends of the world today. But the Word today, insists on the path of perfect perseverance. It is the path of least resistance to the Will of God and the path of least persistence to one's own whims and fancies. 

We see the Apostles and the their disciples do that...when the Lord instructs them to do something they offer no resistance at all. With all the sufferings that come their way, they keep persevering, though they certainly had moments dark and dangerous. Nothing stopped them because they were on the path of perfect perseverance.

Seek the Lord and find joy!

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

May 29, 2025: Acts 18: 1-18; John 16: 16-20

There is a promise from the Lord today: your sorrow will turn into joy! 

At times, it may seem too lofty a promise and most of us might look at it with suspicion. However, it is not so because the Lord is wrong or deceptive, but maybe our understanding of true joy is not right at times!

Ever heard of the anecdote about this monk who went into contemplation and came out "enlightened" after almost a decade? Since everyone considered him "enlightened", a man approached him with a question: what difference do you find between the world as it was when you went into contemplation a decade ago and that of today? He said, "when I went in the land was down and the sky was up there, there was summer and winter, and there was day and night." "And Now?", the questioner quipped with his curiosity soaring! "Ah, now the land is down and the sky is up there, there is summer and there is winter, and there is night and there is day!"

Would you be wondering that the story is incomplete, if I end it there? No, you need not! The fact is, indeed the things remain the same, but the way the enlightened person see them is completely different from the way others see it! Your sorrow will turn to joy, not only because everything around you will turn upside down, but because you will find yourself different, your priorities would become different, your concerns turn out to be different. That will make all the difference!

When those people rejected Paul outright, he couldn't care less! He was just the same and walked off cool, because for him that rejection mattered nothing! For him sorrows had turned into joy, everything was joyful, for in everything, he sought the Lord!