15 MARCH 2021, ISAIAH 65. 17-21; JOHN 4. 43-54
Focus: Things may go wrong so hopelessly at times. But do not lose heart. Because, as long as God is with us, life can never be hopeless. So, let us firmly confide in Him.
What an assurance! What a consolation! What an encouragement! What a rejuvenation of the drooping spirits! The words of God through the prophet Isaiah in the first reading are indeed springs of hope and courage. God promises: "I shall create new heavens and new earth; no more cries will be heard; there will be all rejoicing and happiness; the old things will not be remembered". These words are intensely timely and comforting, especially in our own present times. We are still in the fearful grip of the Coronavirus. It has thrown the whole world into chaos, dread and death! It has subdued every power before it! It has upset the whole rhythm and order of life, has taken away the beauty and worth of life! Yes, evil can be powerful and frightening, but God is more powerful and assuring. He is a God who can work miracles, just with the power of word even at distance.
This is what is testified in the gospel episode. Jesus heals and revives a royal official's son at death's bed. All that is needed is a deep faith like the faith of that official. He requests Jesus to come personally to his house and heal his dying son. He urges Jesus to come soon and urgently before he dies. But Jesus just says, “Go, your son will live”. Here is seen the utter faith of the official. He does not ask Jesus how. He does not argue with Jesus that his faith is sincere and he is not just looking for signs and wonders. He does not go on explaining to Jesus about how deep his faith is. He does not even insist that Jesus should go personally with him. The master says ‘go’. The healer assures that his son would live. That was enough for him. No more questions or doubts. Enough that we have faith like that official, and surely God is ever ready to remedy and heal even the worst situation.
Direction: As long as we still hope against hope, we will surely experience the power and intervention of God. What is needed is a faith that totally surrenders its misery to God
16 MARCH 2021, EZ 47. 1-9, 12; JOHN 5. 1-19
Focus: When the streams of God's grace flow over us, life will be enlivened, refreshed and renewed
In the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, there is a vivid and beautiful description of the river that flows from the temple. This symbolizes the streams of God's grace and the gracious effects of it. Wherever the river flows, there is life, freshness, growth, healing, nourishment, fruitfulness and abundance. Thus, when God's grace flows upon a person, life becomes revived, refreshed, strengthened and abundantly fruitful.
This is what happens in the gospel in the case of the person immobilized for 38 long years. On one hand, the length of his illness shows the height of human indifference. What a sad story of insensitivity and selfish competition: Within 38 years, nobody gave any priority to get him healed. None helped him to get into the healing pool. Everyone was bothered about his own health and wellbeing. On the other hand, we also see the steadfastness and perseverance of the sick man. He never gives up his desire or hope. He never stops trying to get into the pool to get healed. He does not get despaired or dissipated. In such a context, Jesus enters into his life. He understands his situation. Even without being asked for his intervention, Jesus takes initiative and heals him. The same will happen in our lives as well. Jesus is ever waiting to heal us. He knows that we need healing. But he wants us to know that we need healing. He wants us to desire it and seek it. It is very interesting that after healing the invalid, Jesus orders him not to sin any more. Does Jesus imply that his invalidity is because of his sin? The point here is not that all those who are sick must have committed some sin. Rather, all those who sin will certainly be sick in some or other way. In fact, sin itself is sickness. It will immobilize us and make us invalid. Sin takes away our movement, our activeness, our enthusiasm for God and good. It will make us “lie down on bed” for years and years. We need to “get up from our bed and walk ahead”. This is the real healing.
Direction: All others may disappoint us and fail us, but God never fails us and it is enough that we trust him
17 MARCH 2021, ISAIAH 49. 8-15; JOHN 5. 17-30
Focus: Who can measure the love of God! What can one compare it with! He never forsakes us. He never ceases working for our good, growth and happiness. Blessed are those who realize and experience this!
The greatest beauty and the most beautiful greatness of our God is He is ceaselessly at work. It is the work of loving. It is a relentless mission and project of transforming our lives into something beautiful and great. What does this imply? It means, God will nourish us, and we shall not hunger or thirst. He will lead us and we shall not be harmed or misguided. He will comfort us and we shall not remain afflicted. He will lift up our spirits and we shall not lie desolate. It is a love that is incomparable and immeasurable. It is like a mother’s love for her nursing child. A mother never forgets her nursing child. But even if such a thing happens, even if a mother forgets her nursing child, even if her love fails, yet God’s love for us never fails. He never forgets us or abandons us.
Jesus’ coming to us and living with us is the greatest sign of this love and work of God for us. Jesus tries hard to make the people understand this. He wants to draw their attention on to God who loves them and works for them ceaselessly. He never rests, because His love never rests or halts. Throughout his whole life and mission, and through his preaching and healing, what Jesus wants to reveal and show to the people is just this: God loves us and works for us. It is beyond times and seasons, beyond any conditions or restrictions.
It is in this spirit and with this mind, Jesus speaks of his communion and oneness with God, his likeness to Him, and his power and judgment. But instead, people understand the wrong side. They misunderstand as competition with God all of Jesus’ doing God’s will. They misunderstand as claiming equality with God all the closeness, likeness and oneness of Jesus with God. They misunderstand as blasphemy all his deepest God-consciousness of seeing everything in reference to God as blasphemy. They misunderstand as disrespecting and violating Sabbath his timeless love-work like God’s. Hence blaming and persecuting Jesus.
Direction: If only one lifts up his eyes and realizes the unstoppable and untiring love of God and His working for us, we will be eternally grateful and passionately committed to do God’s work!
18 MARCH 2021, EX 32. 7-14; JOHN 5. 31-47
Focus: How true it is that we vex God often with our stiff-neckedness! But thanks to the same God who is so flexible to relent and be benevolent yet again!
Really it is a sad thing that no seldom many people test God's patience and benevolence with a spirit of obstinacy and closedness toward God. How painfully God laments over the people of Israel. For, so easily they forget the marvels that God has worked in their lives. They forget the mighty liberation. They become ungrateful and attribute all the credit to mere idols. They turned aside from the way of the true God. They corrupt themselves. They are truly stiff-necked. But, Moses is deeply concerned for them. He makes enormous effort to tone down God's wrath. He tries to evoke sympathy in their favour. It is not playing down their wrongdoings and infidelity, but elevating God's fidelity. In simple, he clearly attests that God's fidelity is not conditioned or reversed by the people's infidelity. He is stable and steadfast. What a nobility and power of intercession!
The same stubbornness of the Jews confronts and torments Jesus. He takes the role of Moses: on one hand, he constantly speaks the truth; he urges the people to accept and follow it. He challenges their lack of transparency. On the other hand, he bears testimony to God's love and fidelity. He calls them earnestly to believe him by calling different sources as his testimonies. These are Moses and his teachings, the sacred Scripture, John the Baptist, the Father Himself and Jesus' own works. These are authentic witnesses to his divine identity and divine mission. But, sadly no witness can convince them. Because they are so closed and blind and hard.
We are invited and summoned to believe and change.
Direction: God goes on speaking to us, enlightening and calling us to know God and to get closer to Him. Let us believe Him and live with and for Him
19 MARCH 2021, SOLEMNITY OF ST JOSEPH
Focus: A true believer sees with his optic of faith that in his life, things do not happen by chance but by choice of God in accord with His eternal plans
1. St Joseph! What a great, simple, humble, noble and faithful saint he is! Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary, Foster father of the Saviour, Head of the Holy Family, patron of the universal church.
2. Some main features of st Joseph:
1) Purity of heart (lily)
2) Intimacy with Jesus (child Jesus on the bosom)
3) Longing and searching for the Lord (Jesus, lost and found in the Jerusalem temple)
4) Protecting and guarding Jesus (flee to Egypt to escape from Herod's cruelty)
5) Responsible, diligent and dedicated toward his work and care for the family (carpenter)
6) Docile and recollective (silent worker; no single word spoken by him; doing everything silently without any show or seeking recognition)
3. In the light of the OT: Joseph is a just man. Who is a just man? One who fears God, one who turns away from evil, one who is blameless, and one who is upright
4. In the light of the gospel, and in contrast to the world's mentality:
Joseph is characterised by a single quality as "just" man. In a world where being just and standing for justice are very often understood and presented in a very shallow way, Joseph stands as a model, example, inspiration and challenge for true and perfect justice. 5. Justice is not a mere concern and fight for rights, of one's own or of an interested group. It is not crushing or suppressing others' rights. To be really just also means to be conscious of duties as well, to be conscious of the rights of others.
6. Joseph was just, because he did not think of his rights as a husband (to denounce Mary publicly for her divine conception) but thought of Mary's right (as a woman of dignity and honour not to be subject to public shame)
6. Joseph was just, because he did not think of what is right for him but for Mary. He did not stick to his own opinion, idea, reason and judgment. Rather he gives room for what can be the thinking and situation of Mary.
7. He was just because he did not cling on to his win plan and decision to denounce Mary but surrendered to God's will and accepted Mary back as his spouse.
Blessed are we to venerate him with devotion! But still blessed shall we be if we imitate him as well with dedication!
Direction: True justice is not a mere clamour for individual rights or a group's, leading to conflict and suppression of some others. Justice is dry when is devoid of charity
20 MARCH 2021, JER 11. 18-20; JOHN 7. 40-53
Focus: Good persons suffer on behalf of God and good, but they never give up and abandon the right path
The prophet suffers. This is so much and humanly unbearable. He suffers ingratitude, deception and betrayal at the hands of his own people. He faces persecution and even to the point of death. This is all the more excruciatingly painful because it is his own people for whom he did so much, for whom he pleaded so fervently to God not to punish or destroy them for their iniquities but to be merciful. And so, humanly speaking, he should seek revenge. But he is really a God-fearing and God-trusting man. So he entrusts his case and cause to God.
This is the same spirit that Jesus manifests in the face of undeserving and unjust suffering. His own people refuse to believe in him. No amount of miracles, no amount of powerful and godly teachings, no amount of witness from the sincere messengers, and no amount of wise advice from leaders like Nicodemus, would melt their stubbornness. Their jealousy makes them prejudiced. Their prejudice leads to hatred. Hatred blinds them to truth. Their blindness leads them to unbelief. Unbelief leads to rejection, and rejection to evil plotting, and conspiracy finally ends in murder.
But, just see Jesus. No amount of affliction and problem makes him be shaken in his loyalty to God's will, in his compassion towards his people. At no point, Jesus backtracks from God's will or doubts the rightness of God's ways. And at no point, Jesus feels retaliation towards those hostile to him and never he wishes bad for them. So instead of feeling furious toward those who did wrong to Jesus, it is better that we get more convinced by looking at the prophet and Jesus.
Direction: Often it is a wonder for me, why and how the leaders and the people as well could not get more correct details about Jesus' birth and lineage. That only shows that when faith is shallow, knowledge too becomes shallow and deviated.
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