Learning to Unlearn

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

October 2, 2025: Celebrating the Guardian Angel
Exodus 23: 20-23; Matthew 18: 1-5,10

'From Knowledge to Ignorance' is a famous title of one of the Spiritual thinkers of India. It may sound a bit odd but there is deep truth in the perspective and that is the message of the Word and the feast today - learning to unlearn. We run the risk of getting too used to the great things that God keeps doing for us. At times, due to some setbacks that we could possibly experience in our life, or due to some troublesome moments or irreplaceable losses, we might tend to forget all that has gone by so well and so many things that are still in store, within the grandeur of the plan of God. After all, what are we but simple and foolish mortal beings!

The Feast of the Guardian Angels is an invitation to learn, to learn to unlearn, to learn to constantly learn every moment of our lives, and experience the accompaniment of the Lord in a concrete manner. Every moment of our lives, we are being watched over and protected in love. We believe in an accompanying God, a God who has promised, never to leave our side and to be with us till the end of this world.

We lack the Wisdom to understand the plans of God in all its details but with the little that we are capable of, we pretend to be masters of everything! It is important that we realise our limitedness inspite of our great acomplishments, that we acknowledge the wisdom in God's plan in spite of our nothingness. If our eyes are truly open to what is happening around, if our ears are genuinely open the Words that come from above, if our hearts are absolutely open to the promptings of the Lord, then we would open our lives to the Lord and we grasp the eternal sense according to the mind of God.

We would learn to see God present with us unceasingly, only if have the open mind of a Child, without prejudices and reservations, without judgements and pretensions. The Gospel instructs us against taking anyone for granted - because no one is alone! Every one is accompanied, by none less than our God. We celebrate today the accompanying God; In order that we grow to be more and more perceptive to the presence of God with us and feel the accompanying God concretely on our life journey, we need to constantly learn to unlearn our mental blocks and prejudiced ideas. The Word teaches us everyday, let us resolve to learn from the Word and unlearn all futile thoughts.

Knowing God is from within

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 26th week in Ordinary time

September 30, 2025: Zechariah 8: 20-23; Luke 9: 51-56

Though Evangelisation is one great mission that is entrusted to every person who knows God, it is not a means to force anyone to get to know God. One cannot know God by force - neither by brutal force nor other milder moral force! In fact, attempting to make people know God by any force only works against the very objective.

Knowing God has to happen! It should come from within. The concerned person should feel the presence of God in and through the persons around, the situation around and the experiences that happen. Hence evangelisation essentially, is not making people know God but making people see what I have known about God, how I know God and as what I know God!

It is not forcing someone towards knowing God, but creating a situation, enabling experiences, that would enable people to know God and experience God. The key and the secret here is that my life has to be so encompassed by the presence of God that those around me find a clue to experiencing God in our day to day normal relationships. It is not to do with some exceptional moments or miraculous happenings but with my daily life, normal choices, habitual words and my spontaneous outlook on life events.

Once I really experience God, know God and fall in love with God, people around me see the experience that makes such a difference for me, and they wish to get to know God from me and begin to love the One whom I love! This is true evangelisation, and that comes from within because, without any doubt, knowing God is from within.

The felt presences of God

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

September 29, 2025: Celebrating the Archangels
Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14; John 1: 47-51

Angels - how do we understand them? Angels are of various types and categories in various traditions. Every faith tradition speaks of angels, and each from its own perspective. As we well know, the Christian understanding of Angels is much drawn from the Jewish understanding of Angels, which in turn was much influenced by the Egyptian understanding. However, the Catholic teaching has gone through much refinement and we should thank God for the continuous revelations that we have had right through our faith tradition.

Angels are the extensions of God; they are infact the felt presences of God. When a person needs to understand what the Lord wants of the person, the One who speaks those words is Angel Gabriel, the message of God. When a person badly needs a healing, a boost of health to carry out his or her assigned tasks in life, the One who brings that healing or the necessary strength is Angel Raphael, the healing of God. When a person feels weak and worn out, unable to withstand the tiresome world, the One who strengthens them is Angel Michael, the strength of God.

How many persons we come across on a daily basis, in our homes, our families, our communities, our workplaces, who long to hear a good word, who look for a soothing balm for their hampered hearts, who long for a sustaining assurance! Think about the moments in which you were yourself in those typical situations... how much you would have longed for such a 'help from above'! Anyone who came up exactly at those moments with exactly what we needed, are part of a divine intervention. They are indeed angels!

The question now is, not what I am in need of. But, what am I going to do for those in need around me today: for the least, how much time am I ready to spend with them? What good words do I have in store for them? What encouraging gesture of mine is going to strengthen them in their endeavours?

In short, how do I plan to start being a felt presence of God to my neighbour?

INDIFFERENCE - THE MOST UNCHRISTIAN ATTITUDE OF ALL

Look, think and fight!

26th Sunday in Ordinary time - September 28, 2025
Amos 6: 1,4-7; 1 Timothy 6: 11-16; Luke 16: 19-31

Indifference, the worst of all vices and the most dangerous of all attitudes; it is one thing that the Lord cannot bear! Woe to those who are indifferent, warns prophet Amos. And that is precisely what Jesus presents in his parable too. It is something that God just cannot stand - God will 'spit you' out of God's presence, if you are lukewarm, reveals the Lord himself (Rev 3:16).

If you have a living faith, then fight the good fight of the faith, challenges St. Paul through his letter to Timothy today. 'Blessed' are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt 5:6), not those who remain in their safe havens caring nothing for anyone around. St. Paul recalls to our minds today, how Jesus bore witness to his faith and to the truth right upto his cross! "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth," declared Jesus with a courage that disturbed Pilate (Jn 18:37). When it came to bearing witness to truth and righteousness, or feeling compassionate for those who were helpless, or reaching out to the sinners and the outcast, or speaking out for the rights of those who were oppressed - of their right to be healed as sons and daughters of God, of their right to dignity and of their closeness to the Reign of God - Jesus never hesitated; and his true disciples would never hesitate too!

Today we are living in a world that has innumerable justifications for being indifferent towards others - one's duty and family, corrupt system and government, anti-people policies and laws, legitimisation of insensitive craze for development and technology, rapid growth and advancement - the list can go on endlessly. And it is effortlessly easy to cast the blame on some else and hide behind the mask of myself being part of the 'affected' and the 'left behind'. In simple terms, the Word challenges me today to place myself in the shoes of the rich man and look at the world around me! Have I done whatever I could in my context, for justice, righteousness, dignity of all and true freedom of the children of God. If I say, 'what can I really do?' - beware, that could be the visible trace of Indifference within!

Indifference is the most unchristian quality one can have. 

The readings today outline the three levels in which INDIFFERENCE grows.

First Level: Indifference as a fruit of Blindness - the inability to see the suffering around, the incapacity to sense the heavy burdens that persons around me carry, the failure to feel the unseen tears of those crying out for help... these are unchristian to the core. LOOK says the Lord, perceive the suffering in the eyes of your brother and sister... even if you cannot do much, atleast be there for them!

Second Level: Indifference as a sign of Selfishness - even after seeing the suffering and the pain, if I fail to be moved, if I refuse stand by someone because I could get into problem, or because I could lose my opportunity to go ahead in life, or because I could earn enemies in the bargain, I am unworthy of being called the disciple of the Lord who died for me! THINK of the others, and not solely of yourself, says the Lord. Can I think of anything other than Me, Myself and Mine? I am my brother's (and sister's) keeper!

Third Level: Indifference as a form of Malice - it is a sin! "Silence encourages the tormentor; never the tormented!" says Elie Wiesel an Holocaust survivor, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He continues,"the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." How perfectly Jesus would agree to these words! For, this is what Jesus meant by that parable! You just cant be silent spectators, you just can't stand by the sidewalks and see things happen, not even sit in the stands and cheer! No... FIGHT the good fight of the faith!

For the sake of the Truth, for the sake of righteousness, for the sake of justice, for the sake of the exploited, for the sake of the voiceless, for the sake of God's will on earth, for the sake of the Reign of God here and now - can I today resolve to do my little part? Do I dare to denounce my Indifference?

God and God alone

WORD 2day: Saturday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 27, 2025: Zechariah 2:5-9,14-15; Luke 9: 43-45

Beginning with last Sunday the Gospel has been dwelling on the theme of Jesus announcing his suffering. However, it is not yet the close of his ministry, if we carefully watch the context of the passages reflected upon. What then is Jesus proposing to teach?

Life with the Lord is not a career, it is not a life securing strategy. It could be infact, on the contrary, a challenging self giving. When we make a choice for God, we are taking a risky step of giving away our traditional concepts of security, social upward mobility, self satisfaction and so on... but beyond all these insufficiencies there is the only Reality that can give meaning and fulfillment: God and God alone!

I shall be a wall of fire for my people, says the Lord, an unassailable protection with an undying love. What a great guarantee we have in this promise of the Lord. But let us beware, it does not happen automatically. It is not that we are in that protection by default. We need to positively and by choice submit ourselves to that protection, it involves a definitive life style and deliberate daily choices. When we whole heartedly submit to the Lord, the magic happens - the wall of fire surrounds us, our divine shepherd guards us.

It is this underlying conviction based on the almighty presence of the ever living God that gives joy to a God's child, happiness beyond all struggles, calmness beyond all anxieties, loveliness beyond all brokenness. God and God alone, can fill our beings truly!

Shake up the world...

WORD 2day: Friday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 26, 2025: Haggai 1:15 - 2:9; Luke 9: 18-22

A little while now, and I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land, says the Lord in the first reading. Shaking up was a characteristic experience that Jesus gave to those who were around him. Jesus' self understanding and his consciousness of the Divine mandate was so strong and clear that it shook the earth and heaven; not merely that once when he died on the cross rejected and condemned, but every time he came in touch with an old fashioned clichéd concept of spirituality.

He shook up the pharisees, the saducees, the high priests, the lawyers, the herodians, the traditional Jews...and among those whom he shook, some became his followers and some others disciples and apostles. There were some who could not accept it and they wanted to do away with him and they did it, when they tried him and nailed him on the Cross. But all that remained was another shake up for them! It is Jesus' characteristic mark, to shake up those who are with him.

The same shake up happens everytime a follower of Christ lives up to his or her call and mandate. A follower of Christ, that is a Christian, has to be filled with the glory of the Lord from within. Look at some people who have lived very close to our times: Maxmillian Kolbe, Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa, Cardinal Newman or the thousands of Christians who stand up to their faith even if it were to cost their lives.

The call for us today is to be mindful of every situation or opportunity that would give us the possibility of manifesting the glory of the Lord enshrined within us, and by that, shake up the world wherever we are! Can we?

House in Ruins... a call to reflect!

WORD 2day: Thursday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 25, 2025: Haggai 1:1-8; Luke 9: 7-9

It is important to know that the house is in ruins, and it is more important to know the reason. The world today is experiencing that ruin in many forms. The wounded peace, the wrecked ecology, the neglected humanity, the despised helpless, the insensitive power centres... these are the true experiences of ruins. If we carry on our lives paying no attention to these, but trying to live our so-called 'religious' lives as mere ritual requirements, we will be like Herod who was more curious to see Jesus, than in earnest to see himself in the light of Jesus.

Let us reflect carefully, calls the first reading today! To reflect on our house of ruins is not merely to criticise ourselves or everyone else who is around, but to look at ourselves in the light of Jesus and his Mystical Body. The Mystical Body of Christ is the communion of believers, the communion of human persons, a true communion of hearts and spirits of the brothers and sisters called in the name of the One Lord. Are we building up such a presence amidst us? If not Jesus' body, the house, is in ruins!

It is important that we know that the house is in ruins and more important to know the reason; that we analyse to see where really lies the problem. A bit of sincerity and a lot of dedication will set this house back in order - our call today is, to Reflect, to reflect on the house in ruins!

Being the Household of God

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

September 23, 2025 - Remembering Padre Pio of Pietrelcina 

Ezra 6: 7-8,12,14-20; Luke 8: 19-21

'House', 'Mother', 'brothers and sisters'... today's readings present to us terms that seem to draw a highly familiar note to our faith. It is important to look at our faith and its expression in terms of living in the presence of God, living as brothers and sisters of the Lord and as brothers and sisters in the Lord, instead of duties, obligations and rituals to be faithfully carried out.

It is all a question of priority and clarity of the essentials. At times we get lost in the minute details and let go of a gross reality - may be this is what Christ spoke of when he said of the Pharisees and Scribes: you strain the gnats, but swallow the camels! It is not for laughing at them, but for us to question ourselves whether we are being blind to larger deformities in our Christian faith, than the rubrics, rituals and rites that we fight about.

The basic premise of our faith has to be a loving relationship with God which makes us related to each other, and makes us persons dwelling under the same roof - every place we encounter each other becomes a 'house of God' to encounter God in the other, alive and active, warm and vibrant. Understood thus, can faith ever divide us? In spite of our faith, if we consider some 'apart' from us, 'lower' or 'higher' than us or not belonging to us, what kind of followers of Christ are we? And worse, if it leads to harming the other, will it still be worthy of the name 'faith'?

By our call and our baptism we are called to live as a household of God, a household that invites, welcomes, receives and embraces everyone as brothers and sisters! What is important is not merely being in the household of God, but being the household of God. St. Pius of Pietrelcina, fondly known as Padre Pio, instilled in everyone whom he encountered, a sense of being children of God, that is being the household of God. 

Roused in the Spirit

WORD 2day: Monday, 25th week in Ordinary time

September 22, 2025: Ezra 1:1-6; Luke 8:16-18

Sentiments of grief, suspicion, hatred and violence is strewn all over the news these days. Every day we rise to newer and newer challenges against peaceful life on earth. Direct killings and terrorist fundamentalism on the one side; the hidden agenda and delirious deceptions of the dominant forces on the other side, normal peace loving human being is compelled to feel out of place today.

Do not be worried dear sons and daughters of God, says the Word today. The Lord is in control. The Lord made use of an alien king Cyrus to raise God's dwelling back to its glory and God's people back to their dignity - the same Lord is in control even today! Just as the Lord roused the Spirit in Cyrus, so shall we feel the rousing of the Spirit within, towards a new creation of heaven and earth!

All that children of God need to do today, is be roused in the Spirit - yes, be roused in the Spirit, share the Word more and more, speak the mercies of the Lord to everyone, set the world ablaze with the love of the True God. Only then you can be called people of God. The light that is kindled in our hearts has to light up many more hearts and rouse up the Spirit in the entire community of faith, the Church.

Here is the call for us in concrete: be children of God, be roused in the Spirit, be lights of the world, burn bright and help people give praise to the Almighty!

Keep fighting His fight!

WORD 2day: Friday, 24th week in Ordinary time

September 19, 2025: 1 Timothy 6: 2-12; Luke 8: 1-3

The Word today establishes that to be a follower of Christ, it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman, a jew or a gentile, of noble birth or from a sinful past, all that matters is from the moment you decide to be Christ's follower, to manifest that in your normal conduct and your everyday choices. Christ should make such a difference in my life that I look at everything in a way different from that of the rest of the world. Especially at times when sufferings surround me and crises engulf me, I need to manifest myself as a disciple by my constancy, different from the world that looks for instant solutions and immediate outcomes.

Yes, most in the world today follow a hit-and-run policy, with regard to sufferings and struggles, but wish to call themselves strong, mature and rational. At the most they agree that they are rebellious, but they fail to understand their weakness - of questioning God during their difficulties but not staying on long enough to get the right answers. Once a person approached a pastor saying that it has been long since the person had left the Catholic Church, because the person had lost a dear friend just around 25 years old. The person had raised questions such as, Why this person? Why now? and so on and left the Church in rebellion against God. The pastor asked a gentle question to him: you raised a question to the Lord, did you wait for an answer at all?'

Living a life of discipleship requires an authentic mind, a humble spirit and a patient self. There is nothing wrong in raising questions to God, but we should be ready to wait for the response. Wait long and wait hard - that is what we mean by, a fight, a good fight of faith. There will be a response, an answer from the Lord - but you should be there to behold that response when it comes. Only then you would be in a position to say: I have fought the good fight of faith! Until then there is one thing we are called to do: Follow the Lord and Keep fighting His fight!