07 FEBRUARY 2022: MEMORIAL GONZALO GARCIA, 2 COR 6. 4-10; MATTHEW 10. 17-22
Focus: Every follower of Christ is bound to face adversity and affliction for the sake of the Lord, and for his gospel. For it is the way of bearing witness before the world. But there is nothing to worry about because the Lord will accompany and sustain them
1. St Paul enlists a number of the sufferings they went through for the sake of their faith in the Lord. They had to bear many afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger. In fact, this is what Jesus cautions his disciples about, the troubles and trials they would face because of their faith in him.
2. They will be hated, prosecuted and persecuted, betrayed, and put to death even by one’s own family members. But at the same time, Jesus exhorts and encourages us not to be frightened or worried. He says, “Do not be anxious!” For God’s power shall be their greatest support and strength. No worldly or satanic power can overpower God’s power. God’s own Spirit will be their advocate, defender, and spokesperson on their behalf.
3. Therefore, all that is needed is perseverance as Jesus assures, “the one who endures to the end will be saved”. This is the same spirit that Paul commends us to imbibe. We need to persevere in all the situations, through honor or dishonor, through slander or praise.
4. Our greatest safeguards and supports will be God’s own power and the Holy Spirit. Our weapons to combat the battle of faith are righteousness, purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, genuine love, and truthful speech. For sure, there will be experiences of being treated as imposters, unrecognized, punished and dying, sorrowful, poor, and destitute.
5. Yet, as the Lord is with us and for us, the truth is totally a contrast: we are true, well known, living, rejoicing, rich and enriching, and possessing everything. Thus, there is nothing to lament or grieve or get frightened about because in the Lord we will obtain our guidance, strength, dignity, and joy.
6. This was how Saint Gonzalo Garcia lived. He is the first Indian-born saint from Vasai. He was a Franciscan, one of the 26 martyred in Japan for their faith, in 1597 at the age of 41, and canonized in 1862.
Direction: The true test of faith is not the absence of problems; it is not being shielded from the sufferings and failures. Rather it is to persevere through all the testing and trying times
08 FEBRUARY 2022: 1 KINGS 8. 22-23, 27-30; MARK 7. 1-13, Sts Jerome Emiliani & Bakhita
Focus: We are truly steeped into a situation of duplicity where there is a contradiction between the interior and the exterior; often the external actions do not correspond to the internal disposition
1. One main saddening defect of the practice of religion is hypocrisy. Many contend to be religious-minded people because they practice many religious activities and traditions. But their hearts are not really close to God and their lives are not in harmony with what they believe and practice. There is so much dichotomy between their faith observances and concrete way of living
2. This is what we find in many religious followers today, irrespective of religion. In the name of staunch loyalty to God, they can hate others so much and speak and act violently. In the name of strict adherence to religious principles, they can totally violate the supreme principles of love, justice, and equality. In the name of faith in a living God, they can mercilessly kill others.
3. This is all a fake and false religion. This is all a shallow and evil practice of faith. A religion that has no clean heart, a faith that lacks charity, a tradition that does harm to others – none of these are true. In other words, this is hypocrisy, a lack of correspondence between the exterior religious activities and the interior intentions and perspectives.
4. There is also a lack of harmony between the religious practices and concrete demands and obligations of fraternity and charity. Hypocrisy exaggerates the man-made traditions and policies and neglects and discards the divine precepts and true spiritual injunctions. Hypocrisy also cleverly distorts the understanding and interpretation of the Scripture and the laws of religion.
5. Jesus recurrently confronts such hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes. They blame his disciples for eating with unwashed hands. But little they realize that their own unwashed and unclean hearts are more detestable. They do many purificative ablutions but their hearts are not purified and not pure. As we see in Solomon’s prayer in the first reading, what is most important for true faith and religion is “to walk before God with all the heart”.
Direction: A religious activity or a spiritual practice or a traditional observance by itself is not a guarantee of true faith. All these must make one more integral, authentic, and upright
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021)
Focus: The external traditions and activities alone do not guarantee the authenticity of a person. The externals should help one to become more authentic, and also should express one’s being authentic
God created us in His own image and likeness. This shows our human beauty, dignity as well as sanctity. This interiority is the most important aspect of human person and society. No externals should mar or breach this. Rather, every external activity or tradition should help to live and foster this interior greatness. An exterior is sound when it corresponds to the interior and channels a clean and good interior. Whenever there is no such harmony between the interior and the exterior, whenever a good exterior becomes only a cover-up or substitute for a defective and unclean interior, then clearly it is hypocrisy. Unfortunately, hypocrisy is so prevalent always and everywhere. In the gospel, Jesus clearly exposes once again the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes. Following the traditions, rules and religious obligations is good. But all these should make one more authentic and benevolent. They alone cannot decide the quality of a person. This hypocrisy lies in these following aspects: 1) giving more importance to the human traditions and observances and neglecting the more essential divine spirit and moral precepts, 2) twisting the explanation of the religious matters to suit one's convenience and interests, 3) ignoring inner purity and using the external purifications and purity as a cover-up and substitute for the internal purity. The human person will be true to his image and dignity if there is harmony and not a dichotomy between his inner self and outer acts. Life will be beautiful when there is a blend of a good exterior and a good interior and not a conflict. Therefore, we should guard against the two possible dangers: one is, a bad interior and a show-off exterior; the other is, a good interior but not shown in a good exterior. Both are defective!
Direction: True integrity is an integration of both interior purity and external purity, being religious-minded and charity-directed.
09 FEBRUARY 2022: 1 KINGS 10. 1-10; MARK 7. 14-23
Focus: Cleanliness is mostly seen and judged in terms of the exterior. A person is regarded as neat and tidy depending on appearance. But what about the interior?
1. Jesus once again draws our attention to the issue of defilement and uncleanness. He teaches in the clearest terms that we must pay more attention to interior defilement. We must check and see how our hearts are getting defiled and contaminated by all sorts of evil, negative, and impure thoughts.
2. In Jesus’ own words, from the heart emerge all evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within. Subsequently, they defile his words and actions. Thus, the whole person is defiled.
3. The interior is the oven of all the evil fire of offensive speech and harmful behavior. The interior impurity is like the pest at the root that quietly and subtly corrodes and destroys the whole plant. Unfortunately, many think that defilement comes from the externals. That is why we have seen and still see many taboos, many prohibitions, many discriminations, in cultures, societies, and religions. Some foods and some persons are kept away because they are considered as defiling, unclean and untouchable.
4. In the present times, there is an increased concern for environmental and ecological cleanliness. There is a concerted drive against various pollutions. There is also more beauty or appearance-consciousness. All these are good and needed. But we must make sure that this concern with the external purity and cleanliness should not override the concern for the internal cleanliness.
5. We must feel more responsible and committed to an inner drive, to a process of inner cleansing. We must collect and throw away the inner garbage. We must make our hearts, our thoughts, our attitudes, our perspectives, our modes of judging and deciding more clean, guileless, and maliceless.
Direction: The present society will do better if it reduces its obsession with mere externals and appearances and starts giving more importance to the interiority and depth
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021)
Focus: Inner pollution is more dangerous and destructive than external pollution. The life of a person or society degenerates when a person’s interior degenerates
We are living in a world which is concerned and worried about pollution of various sorts. It is anxious about ecological cleanliness. Thus, it also comes up on many diet regulations and restrictions. The whole purpose behind is sanity and sanitation. Such a concern is reasonable and helpful. But the problem is an excessive concern for the externals and overriding neglect of the internal sanity and sobriety. How many are really aware that there is one another pollution that is more dangerous and alarming, and that is the inner pollution, the pollution by sin and evil? How many really bother to keep their hearts clean? How many sincerely check their inner health, that is, the quality of their thoughts, the quality of their words, their actions, and their whole character and behavior? How many take upon a course of inner diet, with certain self-regulation and self-restraint? How many defy God’s constant warning to avoid what leads to a culture of death? How many knowingly disobey God’s explicit commands, warnings, and admonitions? How many give excessive importance to the features of their bodies while disfiguring their heart and soul? How many keep their external so clean and tidy while they defile their interior? How many invest so much of their money, time, energies, and capacities on what is temporary and worldly but spend very little on what is eternal and heavenly?
Direction: The profile of a person will be good when he guards his file of life against what does defile his interior and negatively compile his heart.
10 FEBRUARY 2022: 1 KINGS 11. 4-13; MARK 7. 24-30, St Scholastica
Focus: It is not one’s status or long-standing allegiance to the religion that matters in the sight of the Lord. What is pleasing in God’s sight is the unfailing fidelity to cling to Him in spite of all the deviating pulls
1. The greatest sin of Solomon was his defection from Yahweh the true God and disloyalty to Him. As we are told, he became so vulnerable as to be misled by his wives to turn away his heart after other gods. His heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not wholly follow the Lord.
2. In fact, the Lord appeared to him twice and cautioned him not to go after other gods. But Solomon did not pay heed to this explicit command of God. He does not keep God’s covenant and His statutes that the Lord God has commanded him. Consequently, he incurs the just wrath of God and forfeits the longevity of his kingdom.
3. However, God in His benevolence and mercy, does not tear the kingdom from him but from his son’s hands. Besides, one tribe will be retained and not all the kingdom. This is the interplay between God’s fidelity and mercy and human infidelity and evil.
4. In the gospel, we have a contrasting figure for faith and turning to true God. A certain Syrophoenician woman approaches Jesus for the healing of her possessed daughter. While Solomon the chosen one turns away from the true God to other false gods, the pagan woman turns toward the true God.
5. Great was her faith because it was adorned with humility. She falls down at his feet with deep trust. Perhaps many may brush aside this humble act as of no merit but as a sheer act out of necessity. But what makes her faith great is her utter humility that accepts and swallows even an explicit offense and humiliation.
6. Jesus not only turns down her plea but also speaks derogatively, “it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs”. Here some may argue, how could Jesus who is above every discrimination and respects everyone and despises no one, be so harsh and offensive. The point is not that.
7. There can be different plausible explanations for this unusual offensiveness of Jesus. Whether Jesus wanted to test her faith? Whether Jesus wanted to give us an example of humble faith in her person? Whether Jesus wanted to dispel our wrong presumptions that God’s grace is no one’s prerogative on the basis of mere religious allegiance? Whether Jesus wanted to make it clear that his primary purpose was to regain the lost people of God? Whether these words are not actually Jesus’ own but put into Jesus’ mouth by the evangelist who reflects simply the Jewish mentality of despisal toward the Gentiles?
8. Whatever it be, what steals the show is her unshaken faith that could respond, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs”. True faith is deeply humble and persevering. It is not easily upset and does not give up.
Direction: It is high time that people stop taking pride and credit in their long tradition of allegiance and adherence to the church. That proves nothing. What is most important is humility to turn to Him and surrender to Him, and the fidelity to cling to Him unswervingly
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021)
Focus: True faith is always humble and surrendered and it is rewarding. At times, faith may be challenged and tested, but those who persevere will reap the fruits
True faith does not cancel all the problems. It means that if one has faith, it does not mean that there will not be any problems. Faith does not guarantee the absence of problems or suffering. In fact, true faith proves itself only in the face of challenges and adversities. Faith shows us the way to do when faced with a problem. It gives confidence and courage. It fills one with undying hope even in hopeless and desperate situations. It makes one deeply humble and totally surrendered to God. Humility and surrender are not against the self-dignity or honor of a human being. This is indeed the possession by the Holy Spirit. But at times, this is thwarted and distorted by the possession of the evil spirit. In such moments, what to do? Turn to Jesus for healing. The pagan woman in the gospel turns to Jesus. The pagan woman with her deep faith wins Jesus' mercy and thus the healing of her possessed daughter. Her humility makes her not retort when Jesus speaks derogatively, almost equaling her to a dog. Her perseverance makes her answer with a firm trust that even the dogs eat scraps fallen from the children's table.
Direction: The more we are blessed and gone higher, the more we must remain humble and steadfast in our faith and loyalty. Let us not seek false dignity and greatness in false status and arrogance, but in humility and surrender
11 FEBRUARY 2022: 11. 29-32; 12. 19; MARK 7. 31-37, Our Lady of Lourdes
Focus: As we venerate our sweetest Mother Mary as Our Lady of Lourdes, let us once again focus on her assistance, accompaniment, and guidance to us so as to be faithful to the Lord
1. Today on 11 February in 1858, we recall the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France to a simple village girl Bernadette. She identifies herself as “the Immaculate Conception”. She appears 18 times between 11 February to 16 July. As at every apparition, the Mother urges us to be more turned to God, to follow her Son more closely. Prayer, repentance, and penance are the greatest weapons with which we must continue our battle against the evil one.
2. However, in the light of the gospel, we can understand this message of the Mother in another way. It is to be more and more “opened” to God and to others. It is to respond to the healing words of Jesus in the gospel, Ephphata (Be opened). While healing a deaf and dumb man, Jesus pronounces this imperative. Thereby, the deaf man’s ears are opened and his hearing is restored; his tongue is loosened and his speech is restored.
3. Obviously what is lacking and what is needed the most for the present world is openness. Most of the evils in society can be traced to the lack of openness. It is both spiritual and fraternal. This lack of openness leads to deafness and muteness. There is spiritual deafness and fraternal deafness. There is spiritual muteness and fraternal muteness.
4. Many are so self-centered and indifferent toward God and others. They are not opened to listening to the voice of God speaking to them. They remain so insensitive and inattentive to any prompting and inspiration of the Spirit. This is truly spiritual deafness. They are also not opened to speaking, to sharing anything about God. They feel it is something impractical, abstract; for them, God-issue is purely a different spiritual domain that has nothing to do with the concrete world and life. This is truly spiritual muteness.
5. Then, there are many who are not opened to listening to the cries of others in need and struggle. They close their ears amidst their own noises and comfort zones so that they do not hear, are not disturbed by their shouts for help, and thus need not be moved within. This is fraternal deafness.
6. Then there are also those who are not opened to speaking “to” others. There are iron walls of non-communication in many families, communities, and in many other spheres of life. People harbor a lot of resentment and negativity. They are not open to understanding and forgiving when done wrong. Hence speech gets frozen. This is truly fraternal muteness.
7. Further, there are also some others who are not opened to speaking “for” others. They see many victims of injustice and oppression, being deprived of their human dignity and dignity of a decent living. They see many struggling in helpless situations but not able to speak and work for themselves. But these fraternally dumb people refuse to become “voices” for such suffering people.
Direction: Ephphata! is what is most needed today. Let us be opened spiritually and fraternally. Let us listen to God and others. Let us speak for God and others. Let us be healed of our deafness and dumbness
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021)
Focus: Sin is not merely a cluster of evil acts, but it is more a fundamental disposition and orientation; it is a fundamental alienation from God, a grievous rupture of the intimate relationship with Him
The biggest temptation is man’s desperate search to organize his life without God, and thus to do away with God. In other words, this is a closure to God’s grace. As long as man is closed to God’s action, he cannot experience the fullness and fulfillment of life. Without openness to God, man will experience insufficiency and inability in many ways. Therefore, what is needed is “to be opened”. Precisely, it is to be opened to God’s grace. In fact, the whole fault of the first parents was that they were opened to the Evil one, and not to God. They hide from God, while they happily engage themselves in lively dialogue with Satan. But Jesus in the gospel reverses the situation. Jesus heals a deaf and dumb man. His actions like putting his finger into the man's ears, spitting and touching his tongue, and pronouncing the healing command, "Ephphatha" - all these show his personal concern and trouble for us. Today, the same invitation and command are addressed to each one of us: "Ephphata" (be opened). You who are deaf to God's voice and message, you who are deaf to the cries of the needy and struggling, be opened to your inner listening. You who are dumb not speaking God's word and good word, be opened of inner speaking. For this, we need our hearts to be opened. Only when there is an opening to God’s grace, only when we are open to His touch and healing, we will be set free from our inner bondages, and our inner energies will overflow into streams of health and wholeness.
Direction: This is high time that we sharpen our listening to become more attentive and clear our speaking to become more responsive and concerned.
12 FEBRUARY 2022: 1 KINGS 12. 26-32; 13. 33-34; MARK 8. 1-10
Focus: Human life is always a daily story of two options – either to turn to God and good or turn to Satan and evil. The former leads to true satisfaction and joy while the latter to increased dissatisfaction and frustration
1. In today’s word of God, we have two contrasting figures and situations. In the first reading from 1 Kings, we have Jeroboam, the king of Israel turning to evil and misleading the people also to abandon the true God and turn to idols. But in the gospel, we see Jesus turning to God and leading the people to experience the providential care of God.
2. In the gospel, we have the miracle of the multiplication of 7 loaves and a few fish and feeding four thousand. Jesus feels compassion for the people hungry for three days; he thinks of the good and need of the people. But in contrast, Jeroboam thinks of his own throne. He fears that people would be drawn to the Jerusalem temple and thus defect from their loyalty to him. So, He erects two golden calves, many temples to any gods, and anyone as priests.
3. The consequence of Jeroboam’s evil doing is infidelity to the true God and eventual destruction. But the consequence of Jesus’ compassionate doing is deepened fidelity to God, superabundance, and satisfaction. The hungry people are not only fully satisfied but there were also 7 baskets full of leftovers.
4. This miracle once again confirms that God is ever compassionate to us. He is so sensitive and concerned for us. He will not leave us hungry and struggling in our desert and deprived situations. He will not allow us to faint on the way. He intervenes to feed us and strengthen us. He takes care of us and satisfies us.
5. So, we are invited to turn to Jesus when we are hungry and in need. Confide in him. We need not be worried about the magnitude of the need like four thousand and the smallness of our resources like 7 loaves and a few fish. He would multiply them into superabundance. All that is needed is to find out and pool together our limited resources, place them in the hands of Jesus, trust his power and be satisfied.
Direction: God has compassion for us and He constantly takes steps to give us satisfaction and fulfillment. From our part, what is required is to trust in God’s compassion and providence even in desperate situations and be satisfied and fulfilled
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2021)
Focus: Sin may bring quick results, temporary benefits, and shallow pleasures, but eventually it lands one into misery and destruction
Sin alienates humans from God. They lose that intimacy and freedom with God. They lose their sense of worth and dignity. They lose the sense of confidence and joy. The expulsion of the first parents from paradise is very symbolic of this essential loss. It is not merely being driven away from a place, but it is a basic being driven away from their original dignity, intimacy, beauty, and joy. In consequence, guilt and shame, hunger and thirst, struggle and toil, want and dissatisfaction become their lot. But, the Saviour averts this sinful situation by his offer of salvation. In the gospel, in Jesus, we see this contrasting situation. We see a contrast in how Jesus draws the people to himself and thus turns them to God. He understands our situations of struggle and want. He does not want to leave us to struggle with our desert of dryness and hunger. He feels compassion for us. He attends to our want. He alleviates our hunger. He satisfies our needs. Those who approach Jesus will never be disappointed or turned down. They will never be allowed to collapse on their way. They will have their fill and full. They will have, not only enough but abundance (7 baskets still leftover). As humans we are, living on this earth, we cannot wish to be totally free from situations and experiences of dryness, want, and worry. The fact is struggle and toil is part of our human life. But, we can always find ways and means to address these concerns. We can have the direction and strength to resolve them appropriately. And the best means is to confide in Jesus and to turn to him. Also, from our part, offer to him all the little we have, the seven loaves and few fish, to join to his mighty abundance. He will surely multiply them to feed the multitude.
Direction: When we hunger and thirst for God, when we sacrifice something in preference to his presence and word, surely God will take care of our needs.
