07 – 12 JUNE 2021, HOLY MASS REFLECTION
07 JUNE 2021, 2 COR 1. 1-7; MATTHEW 5. 1-12
Focus: We are destined for blessedness and the only way to obtain such bliss is to follow the way of the Lord. A life of happiness is a way of godliness and goodness
In today's gospel, we have the famous Sermon on the Mount of Jesus with the solemn Beatitudes. They are beatitudes because their end is bliss and happiness. They are the confirmed means to attain such bliss. They are not merely some religious teaching or spiritual doctrine but they are fundamental human principles to follow. They are not only some guidelines to apply or some useful ways of doing, but much more essential modes of being.
They are in fact a total contrast to the standards and ways of the world. They are considered as "devalues", "inabilities" and "inadequacies" in the sight of the world. So, certainly, they are a "difficult lot" to follow. Those who follow them will certainly face suffering and affliction, as St Paul reminds in the first reading from 2 Corinthians. But they alone are the royal and noble means to be happy and blessed: be poor - humble of spirit, be sensitive to others' pain, be patient during suffering, be gentle, be meek, be merciful, be guileless and pure of heart, be peace-loving and peace-promoting, be hungry and thirsty for good and righteousness, be loyal, persevering and committed to God. Follow this mode of being and surely you will experience the bliss that is profound, authentic, and lasting. This is what Paul attests: our God is a God of comfort, and He will surely comfort us in our affliction. And being comforted by God, we need to comfort those who are in any affliction.
Direction: True happiness is not the absence of suffering. It does not come from mere avoidance and escape from affliction. Rather, true happiness comes from standing and suffering for God and good, through the path of beatitudes
08 JUNE 2021, 2 COR 1. 18-22; MATTHEW 5. 13-16, St Mariam Thresia
Focus: Our life is fulfilling when it is lived with a sense of purpose. And this purpose is lived and achieved when we realize and live our true identity
Our life fulfills its purposiveness when we are constantly conscious of our true identity. This consists of being benevolent children of God. Jesus explains this, in terms of two simple metaphors of salt and light. They are not only useful examples and comparisons to imitate. They are in fact marks of our very identity. That is why, Jesus does not say, “You are like salt or light”. But he says, “You are salt and light”. They show us not only what we must do, but also what we are and how we must be. The two simple metaphors of salt and light are embodiments and testifiers of this benevolence and altruism. Both are never self-centered but other-oriented. They are self-giving for the benefit of others: one gives taste and the other gives light. But today there is so much bitterness and darkness in human life. This is because of so much selfishness and wickedness. Now, how to increase our being tasty and lighted? St Paul gives us the way in the first reading: it is by being faithful and bearing testimony to Jesus Christ, the greatest Yes to God. This means that he was ever positive, affirmative, and faithful to God. There is never a No, a negation on his part. Therefore, fidelity and testimony to him mean that we also become a constant Yes to God.
Now, to the extent, this benevolent identity is lived and exercised, to that extent God Himself is glorified because He is the source of super-benevolence. The fruit of this Yes and identity through benevolence is the abundance of God's grace.
Direction: The more we are strive faithfully to live our identity, the more God is glorified and the more He will glorify us, in the abundance of taste and brightness
09 JUNE 2021, 2 COR 3. 4-11; MATTHEW 5. 17-19
Focus: True humility realizes that all our competence is from God. Therefore, no one can claim to be competent through human codes or traditions, but only in the Spirit
Greatness is what everyone aspires and strives for. To desire and seek to be great in itself is not wrong. But, how one wants to be great, what means are employed to acquire that greatness – this is the real issue. Many seek greatness by recourse to worldly things such as money, power, position, etc. But, Jesus in the gospel teaches us what real greatness is and how to attain it. To be really great is to be rated great not in the sight of the world but in the sight of God. The way for such greatness is to follow the commandments of God and also to teach and guide others to follow the same. Thus, following the commandments alone is the criterion that decides whether we are great or not. To follow the law does not mean to be legalistic and rigid. It is to understand and assimilate the spirit of the law. It is to be faithful to the spirit of the law. It is to act according to the Spirit. It is to seek all our competence from God. It is to be His competent ministers of a new covenant. When one goes beyond the mere letter of the law and performs actions according to the spirit of the law, it is not breaching the law but perfecting and fulfilling it. This is what Jesus always did: he was only perfecting and accomplishing the law, which apparently was violating the law. Seen from the perspective of fidelity to God's love and adherence to God's will, all the Laws and directives will no more be burdensome restrictions or curtailing retrenchments. Rather, they become facilitators toward perfection.
Direction: Freedom of the Spirit is not equivalent to lawlessness or callousness or indulgence but is the perfect following of God's precepts.
10 JUNE 2021, 2 COR 3. 15 – 4. 1, 3-6; MATTHEW 5. 20-26
Focus: To be really committed means to be deeply convinced of what is right and to put in the best and the maximum
"Unless your virtue surpasses that of the Pharisees and scribes, you shall not enter the kingdom of God", so clearly announces Jesus. The virtue of the Pharisees and scribes was skin-deep, very shallow, and peripheral. It was not going beyond the written rules and traditions. It was not penetrating into the depth of heart and sincerity of devotion. They were satisfied with mere meticulous observance of the precepts. They were not bothered about the living of their purpose. Their main botheration was to follow the letter and not the spirit. Accordingly, they may not kill physically but kill psychologically with mental harassment, character assassination, angry outbursts, offensive, and insulting words. They may offer great sacrifices to God but with hearts filled with a grudge and retaliatory spirit. Such devotion and life are not pleasing to God.
Instead, a true follower of Christ is expected to look for the maximum, going beyond the minimums. They are called to nurture constantly a respectful and non-judgmental attitude, a spirit of gentleness and patience, and an approach of peace and reconciliation. This is possible only when we keep our faces “unveiled”. This implies that we turn to the Lord. He alone removes our veil that blinds us not to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. We do not lose heart but are being changed into his likeness.
Direction: In a culture of bare minimums and dry obligations, the followers of Christ are summoned to do the maximums, and to be passionately committed. It is to see and walk with unveiled faces, radiating the light of Christ
11 JUNE 2021: MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS, HOS 11. 1, 3-4, 8-9; EPH 3. 8-12, 14-19; JOHN 19. 31-37
Focus: In a culture where advanced culture is equated with lack of heartiness and sensitivity, the festivity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is a challenge to foster a culture of heart
1. This feast of the most sacred heart of Jesus reveals and confirms to us that our God is a God of heart. That is, a God who values us so much, who loves us without end, always radiating upon us the rays of His care, a God whose heart burns with the flame, the fire of passion. It never gets cold, it never becomes lukewarm, but always passionate, always zealous.
2. Even if we are weak and fragile, even if we fall often, even if we make so many mistakes, even if we fail in our fidelity and sincerity, even if we lack in our responsibilities and duties, even if we do not deeply believe, live, and witness how we must like the believers, like the children of God and disciples of Christ, even if we often wound that beloved heart of Jesus - still despite all our weaknesses, faults, unfaithfulness, and unworthiness, God loves us. Jesus never fails to love us.
3. This fact of the love of God, so faithful and persevering, is today a matter of great comfort and encouragement. Especially in our times, in our society, where and when, unfortunately, the ambience and the culture of love, of the warmth of heart, of tenderness, of sensitivity, is diminishing, but instead a culture of hatred, rancor, indifference, violence, and evil is increasing, this celebration of the heart, of love, is a confirmation, a call, a challenge, and a guide for a way of living of love.
4. Today the Lord comforts us that he always pours his love over us. See what a tenderness and steadiness of God’s love in the first reading from Hosea: “When Israel was a child, I loved him … it was I who taught to walk. I took them up in my arms … I healed them. I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love. I bent down to them and fed them”. So, never doubt that God loves us, even if sometimes we are surmounted by difficulties, upset by afflictions, beset by unfavorable situations. Trust in God. Trust in his love. Feel the warmth of his heart. Experience the passion, the fire of his love. Be open and docile to the marvel of his love.
5. Not only this but also we are called to foster a deep love for him. Love God. Let us be gripped with a passionate feeling, a powerful bonding with the Lord. Many times we feel a lot of interest, enthusiasm, anxiety, and concern for many things. But how much is the intensity and depth for the Lord? How do we cooperate with God's commitment as He promises: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove your heart of stone and put back a heart of flesh "(Ezek 36. 26). That is, a heart that is warm, tender, sensitive, and caring, a heart that is open, which understands, accepts, forgives, and helps.
Direction: Let us grow such a heart towards God and towards others. Let us open our hearts to God and to our sisters and brothers. Let us widen our hearts. Let us guard them, heal, enrich, transform our hearts so that our hearts also become like the sacred heart of Jesus.
12 JUNE 2021: IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, ISAIAH 61. 9-11; LUKE 2. 41-51
Focus: The immaculate heart of Mary is not merely a matter of purity of heart or purity of life, the integrity of the person. It is to be clear-sighted and to be passionately and lovingly committed
1. The second Saturday after the Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the immaculate heart of Mary. How beautiful it is that on Friday we celebrate the sacred heart of the Son and on the following day the immaculate heart of the Mother! It is not coincidental or merely sequential, but very meaningful and significant.
2. What is sacred reflects itself in what is immaculate. What is immaculate contains and embodies what is sacred. The sacred Son reflects the immaculate mother, and the immaculate mother embodies the sacred Son. Holiness and Immaculateness are integrated and inseparable.
3. To be holy is to be pure. The more we conduct ourselves unstained and uncontaminated with an immaculate heart, the more we grow in holiness. The more we are holy, the more we grow pure and maliceless. To be holy and not to be immaculate is a contradiction.
4. In fact, sacredness and Immaculateness are not something accidental or additional to us. It is essential and integral to our very identity as God's redeemed children. "To be holy and blameless" is God's purpose for us, and destined us for such bliss (cf. Eph 1. 4). Our sanctification is God's will (1 Thes 4. 3)). So to grow sacred and immaculate should be our priority and perennial pursuit.
5. Certainly, it is God's gratuitous grace and not our merit. But this does not take away our role, our responsibility, our cooperation, and our effort. We should work hard to merit what we are graced with. This is what Mary did: if her immaculate conception shows predominantly the singular grace and privilege, accorded to her by God, her immaculate heart shows preeminently her humble cooperation with that grace. She constantly preserved her heart and life from sin, and fostered sanctity, thanks to God's grace.
6. Mary's immaculate heart is not only a pointer to her personal holiness and purity but much more, also, a strong inspiration and pathway to be pure and immaculate ourselves. In our times, where hearts are getting so much polluted by sin and malice, where to have heart comes to be taken as fragility and vulnerability, where hearts crooked, hard, and indifferent seem to be the order of the day, where hearts get entangled into much aberration and deviation in the name of modernity, the immaculate heart of Mary is a consolation and remedy!
Direction: The celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a pointer that true purity leads to joy and serenity because there is nothing that disturbs or distracts. Purity of heart is the propriety of life
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