15 – 20 AUGUST 2022, HOLY MASS REFLECTIONS
15 AUGUST 2022: ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Thrust: Assumed is to be freed!
Indicative: The assumption of Mary is not a mere dogmatic assumption to assume, but a living journey to resume
1. Blessed Mother Mary is assumed to heaven, body, and soul, in the entirety of the person. God did not want that sacred body to decay, that which was the abode and gave physical life to His Incarnate Son. Therefore, in His gracious will and pleasure, He privileged Mary to be taken to heaven, with an uncorrupted body along with her incorruptible soul.
2. There is nothing illogical about this. For, if sin imposed death and decay on the human body, Mary who was preserved sinless with Immaculate Conception, can be very well free from such imposition. In her assumption, we see the whole dynamics of salvation and a great project of the fullness of Glory itself.
3. There are four essential components: Liberation, Restoration, Communion, and Perfection. Mary was totally liberated from her earthly limitations, restored to her original divine dignity, eternally united with the heavenly God, and enjoys the perfection of bliss and glory.
4. We too are destined for the same glory, even though we may consign our bodies to the earth. To attain this destiny, we too must constantly liberate ourselves from our earthly bondages, regain our divine dignity and image, unite ourselves with God in intimacy and surrender, and thus mature and perfect ourselves in sanctity and charity.
5. (For those in India or Indians) Today we celebrate two great mothers, for the same reason, that is, their freedom. Mother India’s freedom, as she was released from foreign bondage and gained her independence; Mother Mary’s freedom, as she was released from her earthly bondage and was assumed to heaven.
6. But this is hard-earned freedom. It involved a life-long struggle of immeasurable sacrifice and dedication. It called for an undaunted journey of courage, patience, hope, and perseverance. It is a marvellous story of combating evil and regaining the original dignity and honour.
7. The celebration of the freedom of these two mothers on the same day, can be a significant pointer to us that we are citizens of two worlds – the secular and the spiritual. Our nation is our motherland and heaven is our homeland. Thus our duty is twofold: towards our country, as united, responsible, law-abiding, honest, and committed Indian sisters and brothers; and duty towards heaven, as united, faithful, and committed God’s children.
8. This freedom that is attained is not a finished product. It is an ongoing task and should be a living experience. Therefore, we are called to constantly free ourselves from all the clutches of sin and evil, meaning all that binds us, enslaves us, reduces our human dignity, diminishes the value and quality of life, and all that hinders a harmonious and happy human family.
9. Freedom is not our destiny nor is it our goal. It is our process, our means, it is our way, which should lead us to more and more good – a good heart of faith and charity; a good life of virtue and value; a good family, loving and supportive; a good society, just and peaceful. God and the heavens is our destiny and goal.
Direction: So long as we are imprisoned in the cell of our body, we cannot enjoy the free spell of the soul. Let us then extricate ourselves.
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021)
Focus: A meaningful life is a constant transition from a set of assumptions and presumptions to the assumption and elevation of life itself
1. Every year 15th August marks the assumption of our Blessed Mother. In India, it is a double celebration as it combines with the independence day of Mother India. Every year powerful sermons are preached on the dogma of assumption and the glory of Mary in which she is assumed into heaven. As taught by the authority of the Church, we believe that Blessed Mother Mary was assumed to heaven, in her entirety, with both body and soul. Unlike the other humans, her incorruptible soul was accompanied by her body too as uncorrupted. This dogmatic truth and faith in it and the glory implied thereby, are indeed matters of great importance. But this time, let us try to take a little different route of thought.
2. Surely, this is a unique privilege accorded to Mary in virtue of her most singular vocation and mission as the Mother of the Savior. It is quite understandable and valid that God did not want the decay or the separation of that holy body which offered flesh and blood to the incarnate Savior. In fact, her physicality became the abode and guide, the breeding ground of his humanity.
3. In Mary’s assumption, what we can see is not just the glorification of a mortal body, but that of our mortality itself. True it is our mortality is fragile as bound to earth. But it is not something despicable or detestable. Our mortality is susceptible to decay, in terms of its physicality. But Mary’s assumption shows that this mortality assumes immortality.
4. This assumption becomes possible because of three essential tenets: harmony, freedom, and elevation. Mary’s physicality becomes harmonious with her spirituality. In other words, her bodily and material existence is in harmony with her spiritual existence. There is no dichotomy, no conflict between her body and her soul. There is no incongruence between the urges of the flesh and the promptings of the Spirit, as presented in Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8 or Galatians 5. What is notable is the body or the physical is not subjugated to the soul or the spiritual, but sublimated, not dominated or dictated but integrated and regulated by the spiritual.
5. There is also perfect freedom. Mary’s entire life was guided by the freedom of the Spirit, a freedom of heart, and the freedom to love God and others. But this freedom is not a free reign to the flesh and the physical when a person is entangled and enslaved by worldly stints. This freedom is of a higher order. This is seen in total surrender to God’s will and plans. She affirmed this surrender at the annunciation, saying, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy holy word”. This she continued till the end of her life.
6. Her whole earthly existence was an unceasing journey of elevation. She always elevated her body, mind, heart, and soul to what is high, lofty, noble, and above. She never allowed herself to be tied to what is low and below. She was never earth-bound but heaven-directed.
7. Seen in this sense, her assumption is a logical and appropriate culmination of an entire life of harmony, freedom, and elevation. Her final assumption is a clear indicator of a continuous assumption throughout every day of her life.
8. For the faithful in India too, as they celebrate the independence of their nation, the assumption of Mary can make a greater sense. We must remind ourselves that this independence is the fruit of the enormous sacrifices of numerous leaders and noble souls. Like Mary, they too had lived a life interwoven with the principles of harmony, freedom, and elevation. They lived integrated lives. They lived and fostered true interior freedom. They always elevated their life to pursue a higher goal, and that is, the restoration of freedom and dignity for India and its Indian brethren.
Direction: The assumption of Mary and the independence of India is a clarion call for all of us to elevate the quality of our lives in the spirit of harmony and constructive freedom
A BRIEF REFLECTION ON INDEPENDENCE DAY OF INDIA 2022
1. We celebrate the 75th anniversary of independent India. At the very outset, let us raise our hearts in gratitude and veneration to all the great freedom fighters. There were numerous noble leaders who led the struggle. There were also many ordinary men who joined the struggle. But their spirit was not ordinary. All of these sacrificed their comfort, their families, and their securities. They suffered and were persecuted and even killed. But undaunted was their spirit, unswerving was their focus, and unstoppable was their zeal. They shed their sweat and blood, they fought and they wrought freedom.
2. Today we salute all of them, recognized and unrecognized. We pay tributes to them. But Not only through our bundles of praises. We need to see what we do with this freedom. How do we live, experience, and foster this freedom?
3. No doubt that there is progress and development. We are no more under any foreign rule and subjugation. We can govern ourselves by ourselves through legitimate democracy. We can proudly say that we are free Indians. We are not slaves to anybody.
4. But there is also the other side of reality. What an irony it is that today we have freedom but we live with fear. Many problems like corruption, injustice, human trafficking, abuses, communalism, and violence frighten us. We experience the loss of freedom whenever and wherever there is a loss of human dignity and joy of life. When selfishness increases, life becomes ugly. When unity declines, progress recedes.
5. Let each one today ask himself and herself. Where are we leading our country to? Is it toward destruction or construction? Is it toward demolition or evolution? Is it toward true and fuller freedom or toward new forms of slavery in the name of freedom? Today, it is a clarion call for all of us to become responsible citizens of our mother India, wherever we are. Wherever we are, we can be good Indians. We can be so by being more responsible. We can be so by being more sensitive toward the poor and the needy. We can be so by being more committed to preparing ourselves to eradicate the social evils and injustices.
6. Let us not play the blame game, one blaming the other. Let us in our own way eliminate the clutches of evil and slavery. Let us grow in the freedom of the Spirit, the freedom of heart, the freedom of love.
Let us celebrate not only the day of independence but the way of real independence!
16 AUGUST 2022: EZEK 28. 1-10; MATTHEW 19. 23-30
Thrust: Vain to trust in riches!
Indicative: The meaning of life does not consist in possessing but in dispossessing
1. We live in a world that seeks to gain and possess riches. For it believes that riches make one happy and fulfilled, great and honourable. But today both the readings serve us a clear warning against wealth and possessions. Jesus cautions us that the pursuit of riches will lead to the loss of the kingdom of heaven. He declares categorically, “How difficult it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!” “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God”.
2. The problem is not the mere fact of having riches. All the rich people are not automatically and ipso facto disqualified from the kingdom of God. It is the fact of excessive craving for them and being attached to them. It is when whole life revolves around money and possessions. It is placing one’s excessive trust in them and giving the highest priority to material things. It is replacing God with money.
3. The problem is also the evil consequences that proceed from riches. First of all, an unbridled desire for them leads one easily to employ any false means to get rich. Thus, deception, manipulation, and corruption are the most immediate dangers. Further, they can easily lead one to feel self-sufficient, greater than others, and become arrogant, despising others. Besides, attachment to riches may easily make one negligent and mediocre toward God because it does not feel the need for God.
4. Further, riches become the easiest doorsteps for shallow and deviant pleasures and harmful gratifications. The lure of money makes one caught up only with the material dimension of life. One who is tainted by the materialistic perspective of life gets his vision blurred and narrowed, Accordingly, he will not value much values and relationships.
5. In contrast to such a possessive mentality, Jesus advocates the spirit of dispossession, detachment, and following Jesus. This becomes clear from Peter’s question, “We have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”, and Jesus’ answer that all such persons shall be “rewarded a hundredfold along with eternal life, being the highest reward”.
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2020, 18 AUGUST)
Focus: Riches and material abundance are very precarious because they can easily lead one to self-sufficiency, self-exaltation, and arrogance
“How difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven!” The words of Jesus sound hard. But it is no prejudice against the rich, nor is it an exclusion of the rich from heaven. It shows the practical reality. It is very difficult because of the all-too-real dangers of riches. Riches can be easy traps and broad doors for undue self-complacency, arrogance, false greatness, neglect of God and incline to vices and shallow pleasures. Therefore, one has to be cautious and judicious in regard to material riches, lest they become pathways for downfall. Some effective remedies will be: Give priority to God, love and follow Him. Cultivate a deep spirit of detachment from the material, not contaminated by greed, and not falling into comfort-seeking. Foster a spirit of generous giving. Every act of self-emptying and self-giving for God and good will be abundantly blessed and rewarded by God with spiritual joy and eternity. The paradox of riches is: the more we crave to gain them, the more we are lost.
Direction: Sharing is an investment with profit while accumulating is like the loss of capital with no interest. Self-emptying is the royal road to getting the divine filling
(REFLECTION 3 FROM 2021, 17 AUGUST)
Focus: Problems surmount us, and sufferings torment us. It is not because God is not with us or does not bother about us. Everything has a purpose and is a process
1. In the world, there is so much lust for money and so much trouble to get rich. The reason is that riches are considered the best and surest means for happiness and fulfillment in life. But, today in contrast to such a context, Jesus declares, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”.
2. Thereby, Jesus makes clear the inadequate and relative nature of worldly riches. They may help one to ride high in the sight of the world, to get to the top of the world. But, they cannot guarantee entry into the kingdom of God. This does not mean that those who have riches are automatically disqualified from the kingdom. It is possible if they are with God if they depend on God and not on their riches. That is why, Jesus says, “For men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.
3. Actually, the real issue is not whether to have or not to have the riches. It is rather whether one is detached from them and follows the Lord. With riches or without riches, one must give priority to God. As St Francis de Sales exhorts, we must see that our heart is not in the riches or riches are not in our heart. Rather, everything must be left to the hand and heart of God.
4. However, such a detached and committed life is certainly hard because it is swimming against the current. The same question as of Peter will disturb us also: “We have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?” The fact is He wants to do things through us. He chose Peter and others to liberate humanity from the slavery of sin. And along with this mission, He is always with us. And He would reward us a hundredfold here and now and then eternal life.
Direction: In a world that is money-crazy and possessed by possessions, to remain untainted by them and to follow the Lord is very hard. But it is not a vain or lone battle. The Lord will be with us and richly recompense us.
17 AUGUST 2022: EZEK 34. 1-11; MATTHEW 20. 1-16
Thrust: A dry justice!
Indicative: A great malaise of today’s society is clamour for justice at the cost of charity
1. The present society feels great that there is a heightened sense of justice. It claims that there is a better understanding and awareness of human dignity, human rights, and duties. But if we analyse a little deeper, it is mostly a barren and dry justice. Often it is devoid of charity.
2. Such a shallow justice bothers only about its own interests and gain. It is least bothered about others’ rights and wellbeing. In the name of promoting and fighting for their rights and due, they ruthlessly crush the rights and the good of others. This is the typical mentality of the early workers in the parable of the workers in the vineyard.
3. They were not happy that the other late workers also got the same wage as them. They forget the fact that they received their due and it is none of their business to question the freedom of the owner. Obviously, they were driven by jealousy. But deep beneath, there is self-centredness that steeps into injustice toward others.
4. This is the same self-centredness of the shepherds in the first reading that makes them fail in their responsibility and justice toward their sheep. They were so self-interested and self-serving that they did not bother about their duty toward the sheep. They fail to protect them, care for them, guide them and feed them. That is why they become blameworthy and punishable in the sight of God.
5. The word of God today invites us to become more just toward others. This implies that we rise above our self-interests, and jealousies and show more sensitivity and concern toward others. True justice can never be selfish and do harm to others. In the name of justice, one cannot malign others and destroy others’ rights.
Imperative: How just it is that we fight for justice doing injustice to others? There is no true justice without charity. We cannot be unaware of our fundamental duty of shepherding one another
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2020, 19 AUGUST)
There is a heightened sense of egoism and self-serving that leads to many other evil effects. Jealousy is one such ugly offshoot and effect, which is condemned by Jesus in the gospel. Beneath every act of jealousy, there is a deep-seated self-interest that thinks only of its benefit and does not tolerate any good to the other.
This is the typical attitude of the early workers in the gospel. In life, like these, many grumble and complain about the master’s so-called “injustice” to treat all equally. They suffer from jealousy and a false sense of justice. They are not happy that they luckily got work and got well paid. They feel sad that injustice is done to them because others too benefit. They cannot rejoice over others’ good and goodness. They equate justice and self-interest.
It is a fake justice that bothers only about one’s gain and harms charity. True justice is always charitable because it respects the other, recognizes their dignity, need,s and right, and does justice to them. The owner went beyond the normal mentality of justice and pays generously the last workers as well. It is not because they merit it, but because they need it. True justice thinks not about what is one’s right, but what is others' need.
Direction: Justice without charity is as harmful as injustice; especially those who are given the charge of caring and shepherding others should double-check about their gross neglect of justice and charity, lest they be condemned without mercy
(REFLECTION 3 FROM 2021, 18 AUGUST)
Focus: God is always on the lookout to employ us in the vineyard of His kingdom. Are we ready to go in and work or do we want to while away the precious time?
1. The parable of workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20. 1-16 is one that is familiar to many. The obvious theme and thus often-preached is Jealousy. Different workers were employed at different timings. But in the end, all were paid equally. This annoys the earliest workers and they complain that the master is unjust to them by paying them just like the last workers who hardly worked.
2. They resent an obvious injustice meted out to them. But the master detects the real problem: it is their jealousy. Thus, in fact, it is not a matter of injustice but jealousy. Apparently from the human perspective, it is an act of injustice because those who worked hard and those who did not are put on the same level are treated and paid equally. How can those who toiled hard for many hours and those who just bent down to work in the eleventh hour be equated? Is it not injustice to ignore the merit of the early workers?
3. But in reality, it is a fake justice and a false clamor. They were paid as was agreed upon. They got what was their due. Then what is their problem? When others get the same pay and when others benefit more than what they deserve, what do they lose? How can they challenge the freedom and the generosity of the owner?
4. This is the typical mentality of many today. They suffer from a false notion of justice. Whenever their self-interests are not satisfied, whenever others also profit, they feel that they are deprived of justice. They forget the fact that justice is not only a matter of rights but also duties. A true man of justice will be more conscious of the rights and the needs of others. In the name of justice, many seek self-interests. True justice is charity and generosity.
5. In fact, true justice is seen in the master. He is dutiful and charitable. As a duty, he paid the early workers as agreed upon. He goes beyond normal justice. He treats all with respect and gives all with generosity. The criterion for his decision is not whether one deserves it but whether one needs it. This is how God acts! Thus, this parable presents sharply the stark contrast between God’s mindset and the human mindset. Humans often think and decide wrongly.
Direction: How easily do we become intolerant and resentful when others are treated well or progress much? How easily, we boil with jealousy even in the field of faith and spirituality, not tolerating when some are blessed with spiritual gifts! Do we want to privatize and monopolize all the blessings of God?
18 AUGUST 2022: EZEK 36. 23-28; MATTHEW 22. 1-14
Thrust: Invitation rejected!
Indicative: God’s invitation is free and constant. It is to enjoy the banquet of His blessings. But it depends on our openness to attend and experience it
1. God wants to feast us with the banquet of His graces. This banquet can indicate His rich word and also the Eucharistic banquet. This invitation can be in different forms. It is His whispering voice in our conscience. It is His messages and counsels through persons. It is His signs and tests through different situations. It is the inspirations and insights in prayer moments and spiritual activities.
2. But how do we respond to these invitations for the abundant banquet of God? Do we also act like the specially invited persons in the gospel? All of them reject the invitation to the banquet. Some are on their own business, and some others ill-treat and kill the servants who come to invite them. Are we also so busy with our worthless pursuits or needless preoccupations? Do we also despise and discard God’s invitations and abuse His grace?
3. We need to remember that none of us merits His banquet. It is free and gratuitous. We may be weak and unworthy. That does not matter. He invites us to enter and enjoy His banquet. But once we are at the banquet, do we fit ourselves for the occasion? Where is our wedding garment? Are we so careless and callous that we take for granted the immense privilege of the banquet?
4. The wedding garment is the spirit of renewal, a right disposition, a new heart, and a new spirit. This is the renewed spirit of which God speaks in the first reading from Ezekiel. It is that clean water sprinkled on us, which cleanses us from all our uncleannesses. It is that heart of flesh in the place of the heart of stone. It is that Spirit of God that is out within us, which causes us to walk in His statutes and to obey carefully His rules.
Imperative: Often many do not realise the immensely incomparable value of God’s word and sacraments. So foolishly they neglect or reject them in preference to otherworldly pursuits and self-interests. That will surely invite loss of grace and ruin
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2020, 20 AUGUST)
Focus: God never ceases to invite us to be cleansed and be made holy and thus put on a new spirit. Refusal of God’s invitation will lead to condemnation
God is always inviting us, to go to Him, to listen to His voice, to receive His message, to know His will, to spend intimate moments with Him, to enjoy the precious Eucharistic banquet, and to be nourished and strengthened. But many times we reject His invitation because of silly or secondary or unworthy interests. We do not realize what an incomparable grace we forfeit. We do not realize that God’s invitation is unlike the other invitations.
In regard to the other invitations, there is the possibility to reason out and discern whether to accept or not, whether it is good or not, whether necessary or not. But in regard to God’s invitation, there is no such need to think because it is always good and for our good. But we cannot take His benevolence for granted. For our part, we should put on the “wedding garment” of a worthy disposition and sincere repentance.
Direction: Let us not be driven by useless preoccupations and deviated priorities, and miss the essential. Let us nurture a little more inner sensitivity that can vibrate readily toward God’s spirit and action
(REFLECTION 3 FROM 2021, 19 AUGUST)
Focus: God always invites us to go to him, to experience his nearness and closeness, and to share in his banquet of love. It needs a willingness to respond to his invitation
1. The scene of the wedding banquet in the gospel, Matthew 22. 1-14 represents the approach of our present society toward God. God, like the king in the story always invites us to be sharers in the joy of the wedding feast of his Son. Through His Son Jesus, He wants to rejuvenate our life. He offers salvation to all, and salvation is nothing but sharing God’s own joy.
2. If sin has cast a veil of gloom over humanity, God wants to replace it with a wedding garment of joy and recharge. In general, life itself is the biggest banquet of God’s love and mercy, and also of fraternal sharing and joy. God continues to send His invitation for this celebration through various servants. These servants may be all the ways and means that channel us His grace. They may be in the form of the different spiritual and fraternal moments and activities of communion. They constantly try to motivate us, inspire us, illumine us, purify us, guide us, and solidify and sanctify us.
3. Nevertheless, the Holy Eucharist is the greatest banquet that is set before us. It stands for us as the immense fount of an abundance of new life through God’s own love, light, strength, and joy. And what is notable is He invites us even though we are unworthy and do not deserve it.
4. But, sadly the responses to this divine invitation are often varied and negative. Many do not realize the value of this banquet. They are indifferent. They take it lightly. They are preoccupied with many worldly affairs and are engrossed in them. Some not only refuse to respond and share in God’s presence and fraternal communion but also directly oppose and do harm.
5. And even with those who respond and are present also, there is no guarantee of a good disposition and heart. They may not bother to put on the wedding garment. They do not try to make themselves worthy participants.
Direction: What is our response to God’s unceasing invitation to celebrate life and the Holy Eucharistic banquet? Are we so much carried away by worldly pleasures and pressures that we forfeit the grace and joy of this celebration of communion with God and with others?
19 AUGUST 2022: EZEK 37. 1-14; MATTHEW 22. 34-40
Thrust: Breathe life into the dry bones!
Indicative: The world of today is sick and wounded in so many ways. It is languishing from loss of meaning and beauty. The greatest reason is the decline of love
1. How rightly the present society resembles the valley that is full of dry and dead bones in the first reading from Ezekiel! The valley looks beautiful apparently. But there is no life and liveliness. The charm and the vigour of living are missing in the life of many. Thus, the life of many is very much like dry bones without a life-filling spirit.
2. These dry bones are often scattered. There is no flesh and skin. There is no shape and form. They is no unison and integrity. At times, they are covered with flesh and skin. There are some external things that seem to give a good shape to life. But there is no life. The dry bones with all their flesh and skin are still not alive.
3. They need the breath of life. Love is that breath that infuses life into the dry bones. The sole reason for our society to be lifeless and joyless is because it is loveless. This is what Jesus reiterates in the gospel as well. Love is the greatest commandment and life-giving and life-moving principle.
4. It is in fact only one love that is twofold: love for God and love for the other. Often, these two are segregated into two totally independent and mutually exclusive zones. That is why there are those who claim to love God and be pious and devout people abounding in spiritual activities. But they are total failures in love for others. Similarly, there are also some others who are good to others but have nothing to do with God or spirituality.
5. Both these stands are wrong. If love for God is genuine, it should necessarily lead to love for others. And if love for others is authentic, it should also foster a deep sense of piety and spirituality. The reason is I, God and the other are all in one single frame. One cannot be complete without the others.
Imperative: Often an artificial barricade is created between faith and charity, holiness and goodness, spirituality and integrity. A true religious way of living demands that love for God and love for the other are integrated into one harmonious whole
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2020, 21 AUGUST)
Focus: In a life that is often dried up and drained, Love alone is the fresh breath that infuses a new life and energy. Love is the thesis and synthesis of all life
Jesus teaches us in the gospel. Love God and love your neighbor, This is the greatest commandment. Often many mess up their lives with unnecessary concerns and pursuits. But, there is only one thing that is most important in life, and that is love. True and perfect love is twofold: love for God and love for the other; a love for God that is total, with one’s whole person, and love for others which is selfless. We should move beyond half-hearted and shallow practices of love for God and our calculative and heartless love for the other. Wholehearted passion and surrender to God’s will and genuine fraternal sensitivity are the true signs of love.
Direction: Love for God is shown in loyal devotion, and love for others is shown in benevolent charity.
(REFLECTION 3 FROM 2021, 20 AUGUST)
Focus: In a world that is often love-starving and love-hungry, love alone is the fittest and greatest response remedy to repair the damaged face of life and to resurge it with a fresh glow
1. A lawyer in the gospel asks Jesus a question, “What is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus’ answer is Love. It is double-packed: love for God and love for the neighbor. It is a love for God with the totality of the person, that is, heart and soul, and mind. Therefore, we should love God with all and the full of our faculties. There cannot be portions or fractions, or conditions or concessions. It is to love God without measure and without reserve. It means that God becomes our all and our whole.
2. This means that God becomes our topmost priority. The fact that we love God means that He is not a mere abstract concept, not an idea or issue about which we have some knowledge. God is not merely an intellectual concern. God becomes a concern of life, someone very personal, someone for whom we nurture profound feeling and sentiment, someone with whom we relate passionately and intimately. Thus, God becomes a vital concern of emotion, experience, relation, and commitment.
3 This invites us then to check our frequent tendencies to make God more an object of devotions and religious activities. Instead, we must discover and experience Him as a subject who loves us and needs to be loved. As long as God is treated as an alien and pushed out of the inner circles of heart and the territories of life, love for God will remain only shallow and fails to affect us.
4. The commandment of love will be incomplete if we close it only with love for God. It necessarily opens up to love for neighbours. In fact, love for God never encloses itself within itself. It is not an individual affair with God. Rather, love for God finds its concrete expression in love for neighbor. A love for God that does not lead one to love for neighbor is shallow and can even be a farce. This love for neighbor must be such that it loves the other as one loves his own self. In other words, in a true love of neighbor, there is no ego, no ego-interests. It is selfless
Direction: The world that feels sick, and wounded, can be healed only with the power of love. While love for God elevates our spirits to a heavenly life, love for others commits us down to the eart
20 AUGUST 2022: EZEK 43. 1-7; MATTHEW 23. 1-1
Thrust: Hypocrisy is abominable
Indicative: Duplicity and disintegration are two viral trends that are disfiguring the quality of life. As long as one does not try to be honest and harmonious, one cannot live a meaningful lif
1. For more than two years in these carona times, we are living a mask-culture. Obviously, it is for health reasons as a safety measure. But the irony is that all of us have been living a masked culture much before. Life is steeped into bundles of pretensions, deceptions, and contradictions
2. People say one thing but do another thing. They have one thing inside but say or do another outside. They say in front one thing but another behind. Many appear to be one thing but really are quite opposite
3. This is what hypocrisy is. This was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus could never tolerate that. He would be sympathetic even toward any weakness or failure. But he was always severe against hypocrisy. This is quite understandable. Hypocrisy strikes at the very roots of humility and honesty
4. The Pharisees and scribes taught the people what to do but they themselves would not do it. They were very strict with others about following the law but they were indulgent toward themselves. They performed many religious activities like prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. But it was not out of conviction or deep devotion. They sought titles and places of honour. It was all a show and seeking self-glory
5. They failed to realise that the titles of honour like rabbi, teacher, master, et cetera are not our identities. They are only pointers to our functions and responsibilities. They remind us that we are people of honour and therefore must do everything with a sense of honour and dignity. Titles and offices do not make us honourable. Rather they flow out as expressions of our honourability
Imperative: Different titles, offices, and honours are not to be platforms for self-glory. Rather all of them should help us to become more authentic in our consecration and effective in our mission
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021, 21 AUGUST
Focus: Hypocrisy is one real danger that creeps into our religious practices. If we are not cautious, it can easily turn us very conceited, deceiving ourselves, and deceiving others as wel
1. Jesus comes up heavily against the Pharisees and scribes on account of their hypocrisy. Their religious practices were like a body without a soul. They performed many pious activities but without the real spirit and an authentic heart. Their life did not correspond to their teaching. They did not practice what they taught the people. There was a wide chasm between their creed and deed. They demanded so much from the people, which they themselves did not follow
2. Further, they do all their observances, not with the pure intention of love for God and pleasing Him. It was with the motive of making a show, displaying their pity, and seeking applause and praise. They sought always self-glory and not God’s glory
3. Their hypocrisy is all the more seen in their total lack of humility. They love the best seats, best titles, best greetings, best honours. They love to be addressed and honored as a rabbi, teachers, and masters. They always seek to exalt themselves
4. The same virus of hypocrisy is real in our case as well. It has been vigorously devouring quite many in the church, leaving aside the outside world. The steep dichotomy between what we profess and what we practice, between what we believe and what we live, is quite real. Being so lenient and indulgent toward self but being stringent and exacting toward others too, is quite real
5. A virulent trend of seeking self-interests and self-glory, excessive craving for titles, honor, and ranks, is very true. Lack of humility is at its peak. In this context, it is exigent to bear in mind the admonition and corrective of Jesus: No one is a teacher because there is only one teacher; no one is a master because there is only one master; no one is a father because there is only one father. This should make us realize that our addresses or titles or functions are not our identities. We may teach but we are not teachers; we may be fathering but we are not fathers; we may master others but we are not masters. Our identity is always being children of God, servants, and followers, friends of Christ
6. In St Pius X whom we commemorate today, we find this integrity and authenticity of life. He humbled himself and sought what pleased God. That is why, he was exalted, quite in tune with Jesus’ teaching, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”. Pius X was exalted to the heights of the altar
Direction: Humility and authenticity alone will make our religiosity and spirituality profound, witnessing and pleasing in the sight of God. They are the need of the hour
. ! ...... l ) n ..... e ! 2 h .are the need of the hour!
This invites us then to check our frequent tendencies to make God more an object of devotions and religious activities. Instead, we must discover and experience Him as a subject who loves us and needs to be loved. As long as God is treated as an alien and pushed out of the inner circles of heart and the territories of life, love for God will remain only shallow and fails to affect us.
4. The commandment of love will be incomplete if we close it only with love for God. It necessarily opens up to love for neighbours. In fact, love for God never encloses itself within itself. It is not an individual affair with God. Rather, love for God finds its concrete expression in love for neighbor. A love for God that does not lead one to love for neighbor is shallow and can even be a farce. This love for neighbor must be such that it loves the other as one loves his own self. In other words, in a true love of neighbor, there is no ego, no ego-interests. It is selfless.
Direction: The world that feels sick, and wounded, can be healed only with the power of love. While love for God elevates our spirits to a heavenly life, love for others commits us down to the earth
20 AUGUST 2022: EZEK 43. 1-7; MATTHEW 23. 1-12
Thrust: Hypocrisy is abominable!
Indicative: Duplicity and disintegration are two viral trends that are disfiguring the quality of life. As long as one does not try to be honest and harmonious, one cannot live a meaningful life
1. For more than two years in these carona times, we are living a mask-culture. Obviously, it is for health reasons as a safety measure. But the irony is that all of us have been living a masked culture much before. Life is steeped into bundles of pretensions, deceptions, and contradictions.
2. People say one thing but do another thing. They have one thing inside but say or do another outside. They say in front one thing but another behind. Many appear to be one thing but really are quite opposite.
3. This is what hypocrisy is. This was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus could never tolerate that. He would be sympathetic even toward any weakness or failure. But he was always severe against hypocrisy. This is quite understandable. Hypocrisy strikes at the very roots of humility and honesty.
4. The Pharisees and scribes taught the people what to do but they themselves would not do it. They were very strict with others about following the law but they were indulgent toward themselves. They performed many religious activities like prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. But it was not out of conviction or deep devotion. They sought titles and places of honour. It was all a show and seeking self-glory.
5. They failed to realise that the titles of honour like rabbi, teacher, master, et cetera are not our identities. They are only pointers to our functions and responsibilities. They remind us that we are people of honour and therefore must do everything with a sense of honour and dignity. Titles and offices do not make us honourable. Rather they flow out as expressions of our honourability.
Imperative: Different titles, offices, and honours are not to be platforms for self-glory. Rather all of them should help us to become more authentic in our consecration and effective in our mission
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021, 21 AUGUST)
Focus: Hypocrisy is one real danger that creeps into our religious practices. If we are not cautious, it can easily turn us very conceited, deceiving ourselves, and deceiving others as well
1. Jesus comes up heavily against the Pharisees and scribes on account of their hypocrisy. Their religious practices were like a body without a soul. They performed many pious activities but without the real spirit and an authentic heart. Their life did not correspond to their teaching. They did not practice what they taught the people. There was a wide chasm between their creed and deed. They demanded so much from the people, which they themselves did not follow.
2. Further, they do all their observances, not with the pure intention of love for God and pleasing Him. It was with the motive of making a show, displaying their pity, and seeking applause and praise. They sought always self-glory and not God’s glory.
3. Their hypocrisy is all the more seen in their total lack of humility. They love the best seats, best titles, best greetings, best honours. They love to be addressed and honored as a rabbi, teachers, and masters. They always seek to exalt themselves.
4. The same virus of hypocrisy is real in our case as well. It has been vigorously devouring quite many in the church, leaving aside the outside world. The steep dichotomy between what we profess and what we practice, between what we believe and what we live, is quite real. Being so lenient and indulgent toward self but being stringent and exacting toward others too, is quite real.
5. A virulent trend of seeking self-interests and self-glory, excessive craving for titles, honor, and ranks, is very true. Lack of humility is at its peak. In this context, it is exigent to bear in mind the admonition and corrective of Jesus: No one is a teacher because there is only one teacher; no one is a master because there is only one master; no one is a father because there is only one father. This should make us realize that our addresses or titles or functions are not our identities. We may teach but we are not teachers; we may be fathering but we are not fathers; we may master others but we are not masters. Our identity is always being children of God, servants, and followers, friends of Christ.
6. In St Pius X whom we commemorate today, we find this integrity and authenticity of life. He humbled himself and sought what pleased God. That is why, he was exalted, quite in tune with Jesus’ teaching, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”. Pius X was exalted to the heights of the altar.
Direction: Humility and authenticity alone will make our religiosity and spirituality profound, witnessing and pleasing in the sight of God. They are the need of the hour!
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