ADVENT THIRD WEEK 24

3rd SUNDAY ADVENT, 15 DECEMBER 2024: ZEPH 3. 14-18a; PHIL 4. 4-7; LUKE 3. 10-18 Focus: Life is never free from fears and anxieties. There will be always something to worry and disturb us. But there is nothing to lose heart or be dissipated. The Lord is at hand. He will intervene 1. The recurrent theme of the holy Advent is, the Lord is coming; the Lord is at hand; the Lord is in your midst. 2. We hear in the first reading from Zephaniah 3. 14-18: The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. O Zion, the Lord, your God, is in your midst. The second reading from Philippians 4. 4-7 too assures us that the Lord is at hand. In the gospel too, John the Baptist preaches, saying, he who is mightier than I is coming. 3. But what does he do with his coming? What will happen if he comes? This question is very significant because many come into our lives and many go away from our life. And not all make a difference. 4. But, the Lord’s coming is crucial, because he makes a vital difference in our life. In the light of the word of God today in all the three readings, we get a clear picture of what the Lord does with his coming. 5. The Lord takes away the judgments against you, casts out your enemies. He is a warrior who gives victory. He will renew you in his love. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 6. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He will also call for a strict reckoning and judgment, for “winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire”. 7. If this is what happens with the Lord’s coming and his presence, then what shall we do? What should be our response toward his coming? This is the question that was posed by the people to John the Baptist in response to his preaching: “What then shall we do?” and the fundamental response that is expected is Repentance. 8. But what is this repentance? How does it manifest itself? What are its ingredients and implications? We can gather some of them again from the readings. A few of these are made clear from John the Baptist’s answers. 9. Accordingly, these components comprise a spirit of sharing generously, rising above accumulation and greed; secondly, a spirit of fairness against extortion and deception; third, a spirit of equity and truthfulness against all violence, domination, or manipulation. 10. Still further, how to repent? How to change the course of life? Do not fear; fear evil no more; let not your hands grow weak. Rejoice and exult with all your heart; rejoice in the Lord always, in all the situations. 11. Persevere and let all know your forbearance. Have no anxiety about anything. But in everything pray and supplicate to God with thanksgiving and deep-rooted trust. 12. Besides these explicit ingredients and implications of a repentant heart and changed life, we can also draw two, three features from the example of John the Baptist himself. 13. His clarity about his identity: some were already beginning to believe that he was the awaited messiah, and he could easily project himself so and win popularity, but he knew that he was only the precursor of the Messiah; he had absolutely no over-ambition to rob off messiah’s role for his self-glory. What a contrast from our bundles of ego-projections and ego-promotions! 14. Another component is the utter humility of John the Baptist: I am not worthy even to untie thongs of his (messiah’s) sandals. Again what a contrast from many who get easily puffed up even by simple roles and ranks! 15. Another feature that characterizes him is his focused and undaunted commitment to his cause. No temptations for false identity or no pressures for self-glory would swerve him from his focus and loyalty. Direction: If we truly take to heart the coming of the Lord that he will stand by us, vindicate our cause and also give a just judgment and recompense, then there is nothing to fear. Let us then rejoice!

ADVENT SECOND SUNDAY 24

II SUNDAY OF ADVENT, 08 DECEMBER 2024 (Baruch 5.1-9; Phil. 1.3-11; Luke 3.1-6) Focus: What a powerfully comforting message of Advent it is! He is coming. Therefore, “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, and put on the beauty of the glory from God”. 1. Our God is a God of joy, God of glory, and not of sadness or misery. He is a God of fidelity, a God of hope, and not of infidelity or hopelessness. 2. Therefore He assures and promises us joy and glory, putting off sorrow and pain, darkness and confusion. 3. In fact, the very purpose and destiny of life are joy, beauty, and glory. God wants our life to be beautiful and glorious. 4. Life can be beautiful, only when it is joyful. And life can be glorious, only when it is joyful and beautiful. 5. In fact, this is the real salvation, which God comes to give us, by coming as one of us and to be with us. The real salvation is this, that our life is a thing of joy, beauty, and glory, and not of misery and darkness. The choice is ours – to make our life a beauty or misery. 6. If this is salvation, if this is the aim and meaning of life, then how to achieve this aim? How to make our life such? 7. The Word of God offers us a clear program of life. We know that to achieve or accomplish anything in life, to gain any success, there is always some program of doing, some dynamics, some mechanisms, some requirements, some equipment. 8. For example, to reduce obesity, cut down the fat, regulate the diet, work on exercise; to make oneself fit and healthy, keep active and keep mentally free; to make oneself efficient and effective, get skilled, enhance the talents and nurture aptitudes. 9. In the same way, to attain that eternal joy, beauty, and glory with the Lord, we also need to do some work-outs, some controlling, some regulating, some restraining, some training. 10. Some of the concrete details of this journey of life are put before us from all three readings. There are: 11. Be converted, i.e. repent, do not continue without any reflection and realization; pause a while and take stock of the direction and the quality of life; make a positive turn in life. 12. Be dedicated, i.e. prepare the way of the Lord, and not the way of the world; do not block the way of the Lord, but make the things conducive to that way. 13. Be straight, i.e. make straight what is crooked. 14. Be smooth, i.e. make smooth what is rough; apply the gentle balm amidst what is rude and blunt. 15. Be humble, i.e. make low the high mountains and hills of pride and arrogance. 16. Be mature, i.e. fill up the valleys of weaknesses and defects. 17. Be balanced, i.e. level what is uneven, of disorder and disharmony. 18. Be educated really of heart, i.e. be with insight and divine knowledge. 19. Be wise and guided, i.e. decide and follow what is best. 20. Be loving, i.e. let love overflow more and more. 21. Be just, i.e. produce a harvest of goodness and fairness. 22. Be steady, i.e. walk in the light of the Lord. 23. Be holy, i.e. stand before God pure and blameless. Direction: Let us know the Way – walk the Way – show the Way. Let us constantly liberate ourselves from the clutches of sin and evil, and experience the “saving” grace of salvation. Let us beautify and glorify our life, with real conversion and thus “enjoy” life!

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 2024

09 DECEMBER 2024: GEN 3. 9-15, 20; EPHES 1. 3-6. 11-12; LUKE 1. 26-38, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Thrust: Stainless and spotless! Indicative: God in His benevolence kept Mary immaculate. It is quite valid because she was to be the abode of His incarnate Son and so it would be a worthy and sinless abode 1. On 08th December every year, we celebrate the immaculate conception of our sweetest Mother Mary and as her beloved children, we rejoice. It is a key dogma that we hold fast to. Thereby we believe that Mary was conceived immaculately and she remained sinless till the end of her life. 2. The immaculate conception of Mary is not a momentary happening, a one-time event limited only to that moment. It refers not only to the moment of conception in her mother’s womb. Rather it extends and embraces her whole life, from womb to tomb. Mary’s whole life was an unceasing act of immaculate conception. 3. She was already conceived immaculately in the eternal plan of God, and that continued at her birth and till her death. Mary’s immaculate conception points to God’s eternal plan of salvation. Things do not happen by chance. Everything has a place and purpose in God’s eternal will and designs. He destined Mary to be the Mother of His incarnate Son. 4. Mary’s immaculate conception blends God’s gift and human acceptance, God’s offer and human cooperation, privilege and responsibility, grace and duty. No doubt that it was God’s unique choice and gift. However, she was not a passive receiver or indifferent spectator to the divine show. 5. For her part, she actively cooperated with God’s gift. She offered no resistance to the fulfillment of God’s plan in and through her. She surrendered her whole life in unreserved commitment. What she received gratuitously, she strove to merit by her humility and fidelity. 6. Her immaculate conception was the starting point of an enormous duty. It was great to be conceived immaculately without the stain of sin. But that was no guarantee or shield against the attacks of sin. It did not exempt her from the perils of evil. She had to wage the battle for life. She had to work hard every moment to preserve and foster the grace of her immaculate conception. 7. Her immaculate conception points to Mary’s purity of heart. She was immaculate, pure, and guileless. No malice or evil could find a place in her. Like a lotus amid dirty water, she kept herself immaculate amid all the dirty and stained world. 8. She could be immaculate because her intentions and heart were totally free from any stain of egoism and self-seeking interests. She allowed no selfish motive to stain her heart or divert her focus. Her whole attention and orientation were doing God’s holy will. Her whole concern and striving was to cooperate with God’s plans and fulfill the sacred role entrusted to her. Imperative: Mary’s immaculate conception points to the secret of her life. In surrender to God, with purity of heart, be committed to cooperating with God’s plan and accomplishing it

Advent FIRST SUNDAY 24

I SUNDAY ADVENT, 01 DECEMBER 2024 Focus: We step again into the holy season of Advent. Let us remind ourselves of the very purpose of advent, its significance and live and fulfill its purpose 1. It is once again the season of advent. What immediately comes to our mind is the holy Christmas. For many, advent is nothing more than some days that come before the birthday of the Lord 2. It is the duration for preparing the cribs, for installing the stars, for singing around the carols, for practicing the Christmas choir, for decorating and illuminating the churches, for planning some programs and organizing some get-togethers, for inviting or visiting the friends and relatives, for doing some special shopping for special festive dresses or articles, et cetera. 3. We do not undervalue the importance of all the above-listed. Our only concern is that the holy advent is reduced only to these items. Certainly, advent is a time of preparation preceding the holy Christmas. All these preparations form part of this preparation. 4. But it is a preparation much more than these. It is a preparation of a deeper and higher realm. It is a time of preparation of hearts, of the families, of lives both collectively and personally. It is a time of preparing to go to meet the Lord who is coming. 5. It is preparing a fitting birthplace for the one who will be born among us. It is preparing enough and clean space for him to enter. It is preparing the whole earth itself to receive the Lord who will encounter us. 6. In the first place, advent is a commemoration and celebration of a past bygone event. As such, it must serve as a special occasion to draw inspiration for our imitation. It must make us recall the event of incarnation of the loving God amidst our sinful condition. 7. It must inspire us to be deeply impressed by the selfless love of God that empties itself of the heavenly glory and embraces our human misery and struggle. It must make us imitate the same spirit of the incarnate Savior. It must make us live up to the very purpose of his birth, that is, to allow him to be with us and to transform us. 8. Thus, our preparation and celebration will be meaningful, only when they blend together all the three dimensions of time, that is, the past, present, and future 9. We remember gratefully and joyfully the past, so that we can meaningfully and committedly live the present, and thereby become worthy of the eternal presence of God. Our celebration will be very inadequate if it is limited only to recall the past, if it does not affect and change our present, and does not charge and orient us toward the future. 10. In this sense, advent is a threefold appropriate present preparation. Firstly, for the celebration of the past events; secondly, /irth of the Lord because he is with us; thirdly, orientation for the future joy of the eternal communion with God. 11. We celebrate his past birth, his present life within and amidst us, and our eternity with him. Our advent preparation must look behind, look and walk onward and forward, and look and rise upward. That is why, Jesus says, “when these (adverse) things happen, “raise your heads and look up because your redemption is near” 12..It is in this sense of future orientation the gospel speaks of the end times in the future. Future and end need not be exclusively in time sense, as something that lies in the far distance at the end of completion of all time and space. 13. It is not a fixed, definite time. Rather it is the appointed time. It is the time of judgment. Thereby, advent becomes really significant when it is not only backward-looking but forward-looking and marching.W 14. We commemorate and celebrate the past because it affects our present and leads us to the future. Advent should prepare us fittingly for a worthy immediate celebration, for a worthy ongoing living, and for a worthy eternal destiny. 15. Jesus cautions us against three factors that trouble this fitting preparation: dissipation, drunkenness, and cares of the world. All these three hinder our fitting preparation and making a productive blend of the past, present, and future. Dissipation makes us tied down to the regrets and negative impacts of the past. 16. Drunkenness creates an illusory world, dissociates us from the present reality and responsibility to it. It can be understood more as a pleasure and comfort-seeking life, and not just something to do with drinking alone. 17. Cares and preoccupations of the world do not allow us to rise higher, to the lofty future. All these three fail in the productive use of the past, commitment to the present, and orientation to the future. Direction: Advent is a sacred commemoration of the past, contribution to the present, and further construction for the future

34 th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B 24

34TH SUNDAY: CHRIST THE KING: 24 NOVEMBER 2024: DAN 17. 13-14; REV 1. 5-8; JOHN 18. 33-37 Focus: Christ is the king of the universe. But it is not in terms of power and subjugation. Rather it is in terms of love and animation 1. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King with great joy and honour. This Sunday marks the last Sunday of the ordinary liturgical year as we will step into the holy season of Advent next Sunday. 2. This placement at the end of the ordinary year can indicate something significant: our whole life with all its ordinariness culminates in the kingship of Christ. We find our end and fulfillment under the reign of Christ. Our entire life must be geared and oriented toward Christ the Lord. 3. The concepts of king, kingship, and kingdom are not strange to us. History has seen a great many kings and kingdoms, both benevolent and malevolent, both just and unjust, righteous and wicked, promotive and destructive. But when we say and celebrate Christ as King, there is an enormous difference. 4. One obvious and explicit difference is he is a king with no demarcated territory of the kingdom. There are no boundaries. There are no disparities or inequalities. It is a boundless, boundaryless kingdom. 5. It is a way of life. It is open to all and embraces all. There is equity and justice. There is no hierarchy of higher or lower, no scope for subjugation and suppression. There is no division and discrimination. There is no partiality or favoritism. 6. There is no aggression or violence. There is no death and destruction. There is no falsity and deception. There is no manipulation and corruption. There is no ruthless seeking power and popularity. Rightly, he is a king of hearts. He is the king of souls. He is the king of communities and families. He is a spiritual king. 7. Thus his kingdom is not a location or domain. It is a reign and ambience of love, justice, mercy, joy, and peace. It is a reign of truth and authenticity, loyalty and commitment. It is where one readily makes himself “the first to become the last and the servant”. 8. It is the divine reign where one “serves and not craves to be served”. It is where one loves selflessly even to the extent of “dying for the other”. It is where one seeks relentlessly the will of God. It is where one can affirm courageously, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let everything happen according to your holy word and will”.I 9. In sum, Christ is king when and where he reigns with his virtues and values. Where there is love and not hatred, peace and not violence, reconciliation and not retaliation, forgiveness and not grudge, altruism and not egoism, truth and not duplicity, humility and not arrogance, unity and parity and not division and discrimination, magnanimity and not malice, generosity and not jealousy, purity and not pollution – there and then is Christ the king, his kingship and kingdom. 10. Today, many followers of this unparalleled and unique king sadly “profane” and “secularize” their king because they themselves are such, stung by high profanity and mundanity. 11. They forget that they are citizens of a spiritual kingdom and not a temporal one. They forget that it is a spiritual reign and not a material domain or gain. They forget the very fact that they are only members and subjects and not the king or master themselves. They ignore the very pillars of this kingdom and build petty kingdoms with worldly pillars and ingredients. Direction: Time is ripe now to demolish all the false kingdoms based on money, manipulation, and deception, corrupt power and lording authority, discrimination, and aggression, malice, and destruction. Let our prayer be sincere: “Let your Kingdom come!”

33rd SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B 24

33RD SUNDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2024: DAN 12. 1-3; HEB 10. 11-14, 18; MARK 13. 24-32 Focus: Our life is a short duration with a definitive orientation toward an eternal destination. Therefore, let us be aware of the end times and befittingly prepared to meet the end for a new beginning 1. The Word of God speaks of the end times. The first simple lesson is this: there is an end to our life. This life on earth as humans is only temporary and transient. There is one day when we need to leave this world. 2. If this is so, it must make us think seriously about why there is so much evil, greed, and selfishness in the world. If everyone has to disappear from this earth sooner or later, why do people go on endlessly accumulating money and other material things for generations as if they are going to be permanent on this earth? 3. Second consideration is: This end moment is not only the moment of death but also a time of reckoning and judgment. Death is not merely a cessation of life. It is a threshold to another phase of life that will be judged at that moment. Everyone will be judged according to the quality of their life on earth till death. 4. Everyone has to submit a strict account of their life. God is the Judge. And He judges whether one merits eternal salvation or deserves eternal damnation. That is why the first reading from the book of Daniel declares that “some (will be sent) to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 5. The third consideration is: One may not know the exact time or the mode of the end day. But what is sure is that there will be an end day and judgment and destiny. And there are enough and more signs that direct our attention on to our last day. These are the so-called end times in terms of natural calamities, social unrests, corrosion of human values and relationships, et cetera. 6. Fourth consideration is: These are not to frighten us but to caution us, awaken us, challenge, and change us. That is why Jesus compares this to the seasons of the fig tree. Just as the nature of the fig tree indicates the corresponding seasons, so also “when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near at the very gates”. 7. Fifth consideration is: This fact of the end times and end day shall make us more responsible to prepare ourselves to meet that destined day and the destiny thereafter in a fitting way. What does this imply? 8. This summons us to be “wise”. This concretely implies depth-awareness and follow-up. That is, to be aware of the fact of culpability, the vulnerability and unpredictability of earthly life, and the need to live a life of accountability. 9. Sixth consideration is: When one lives such a life of wisdom in awareness and uprightness of life, then there is no need to fear or be panicky. They can be serene and joyful for their reward is immeasurably great. 10. They “shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book”. “For by a single offering Christ Jesus has perfected for all time those who are sanctified”. “They will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out his angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heavens”. “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever”. Direction: It will be really foolishness to live an unaccountable and blameworthy life that deserves a just judgment, knowing fully well that our judgment and destiny depend on a wise and accountable life

32 SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B 24

32° SUNDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2024: 1 KINGS 17. 10-16; HEB 9. 24-28; MARK 12. 38-44: "Poor widow" Focus: Our God is a God of giving. It is a giving that is so generous beyond portions or proportions 1. "Generosity pays willingly and God repays generosity more generously". What does this mean? The first part, "Generosity pays willingly" means that those who are generous are ready to give away readily, promptly, and joyfully. They know that it costs them, it demands an amount of deprivation, giving up, sacrifice. But they readily pay the price. They bear the burden of others. 2. The second part, "God repays generosity more generously" is evidently clear in its meaning. Those who give generously can rejoice because their giving is not a waste. God takes it into account. He values and appreciates them much. And He rewards them much more abundantly than the extent of their giving. 3. This is what is seen in all three readings. They impress upon us how meritorious is giving. A generous giving merits an abundant reward. The poor widow in the first reading from 1 Kings 17. 10-16 gives to the prophet Elijah so generously the little portion of the meal that she preserves for her and her son. Practically it was the last meal for them because they had no more except to die. As a result, she was rewarded abundantly: the jar of the meal was not spent and the cruse of the oil did not fail. 4. Similarly, the poor widow in the gospel also gives two copper coins to the synagogue treasury. Apparently, it is very little. But it is very big in the sight of God because “she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living”. Accordingly, she merited the high praises of Jesus and thus his blessings as well. For sure, she would merit God’s salvation as well. 5. In the second reading too from the letter to Hebrews, we have another example of this same culture of giving. And here the example is none other than Jesus himself. Unlike the other high priests, he did not offer various offerings for the atonement of sins. Instead, he offered his own self; as the text says: he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to bear the sins of many and to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And the fruit of this selfless self-giving is the expiation of sins and salvation. 6. These examples of generous giving should not be mere matters of biblical knowledge or good exhortations. Primarily they should challenge us for an honest self-examination about our own spirit of giving. They should lay bare our frequent tendencies and instances of greed, dishonesty, manipulation, and accumulation. 7. They should seriously put to question our undue craving for and attachment to money and material possessions and very often even slavery to them as well. They should make us ashamed and repent about our lack of sensitivity, generosity, and sharing. They should inspire and induce us to be generous and joyful givers. 8. Let us recall the inspiring words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 9. 6-7: Verse 6: "The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." Therefore, don't give sparingly; give bountifully, generously. Verse 7: "Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Therefore, don't give begrudgingly; give freely and cheerfully. Direction: Often what is lacking is not the quantity of resources, but the quality of sharing those resources. The problem is not the lack of having but the lack of giving