THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT - YEAR C

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – YEAR C (Zephaniah 3:14-17; Phil 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18) Theme: “God-in-us” is the cause and the motive of our Joy Reflection: Let us rejoice for God visits us always - Sunday of the ‘Gaudete’ - the Sunday of Joy: We have entered into the Third Sunday of Advent and the Church invites us to celebrate it as the Sunday of Joy. The preparation for the celebration of the Great Feast of God’s visit to the world and to the humanity is not a preparation with the heavy hearts and sorrowful souls. No, God wills to be with us and with every one of us is the reason which causes infinite joy in us. Our God is not someone who is very distant to us. He is the God of history and of salvation. He imprints the world with his revelation in various modes. In the history of Israel, He manifested himself as the God who appeared to them in the different forms and who spoke to them through number of His “chosen and sent” personages: be it patriarchs, judges, kings and prophets. These special and selected people stood amidst the chosen people in His Name and in His Word. They have demonstrated God’s presence in and for the people. God never abandons his people. The history reveals it and the people of Israel testify it. God wants still more. He loves his people so much that He cannot but stay with them. His relationship and His bond with them is ever lasting and ever faithful. His immense love causes him to be with the humanity in the human nature. His love, which crosses the boundaries of any kind, makes Him to come down to share it with the humanity “being with it and taking its life”. He promised it already in his Law and the Prophets. He waits for the appointed time and the time has come to fulfill this promise. He descends to the world. He reaches man, his beloved creature. He desires to save him by his own life. He finally becomes Immanuel: God with us. What more we need to rejoice. Our God visits us always. His eyes are upon us in every moment. His hand is for us in every instance. His love for us in every situation. The Church reminds us the visit of God in the history and time for the redemption of humanity and calls us to be joyful and rejoicing for His Ever Remaining Presence with us. - “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4): We find this beautiful exclamation and exhortation in the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians. We have to keep in mind the background of the Letter. Paul was in the prison. From the prison he writes to his people the message of joy. What is the force behind that made him to speak of joy even from the imprisonment? It is the force of Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit of the Risen Lord. He does not ask the people for their prayers so that his stay in the prison comes to an end. He suffers. His pain is intolerable. His is blocked to proclaim the good news of life. He does not complain. He does not accuse anybody for his condition. He does not blame God or Jesus for the sufferings he undergoes. Even from pain he extends warmth love. He knows well and he believes that “nothing can separate him from the love of Christ”. He carries in his heart the hope that “the tribulation, the anguish, the persecution, the hunger, the nudity, the danger, the sword” (Rom 8:35) cannot do any harm to him; they cannot break the loving bond he has with the Christ. Such is the faith and hope that Paul has in His Lord. This made him to be courageous and to proclaim the message of joy. He says that we need to rejoice. Not for few moments and but forever, for always. It is possible because we rejoice not in some strange and foreign force but in the Lord, in the Lord in whom we live, move and have our being. Yes, indeed, we have every reason to rejoice. We have the Savior with us. We have the Spirit by us. We have the Love of God in us. All other forces, be it scholastic, scientific and technological, may give us some joy but soon it will have its end. The only joy that remains for times never ending is “the Joy of the Lord”. It is this joy we need to have. It is this joy we need to live. Finally, it is this joy we need to share. Readings: “He will baptize you in Spirit and in Fire” - Advent of the Day of the Joy “in Spirit”: John the Baptist proclaims the coming of Someone who would fill the world with the Spirit of Joy. His is very clear in his mission of pointing to the advent of the Savior. Already in Luca there is a integral message of God’s presence for the poor and needy. God reveals his love and mercy to those who are humble of heart (Luke 1:46-55 – Mary sings the marvelous deeds of God for those who remain faithful and humble to him; 2:1-20 – The manifestation of the birth of the Messiah, first of all, to the poor shepherds; 5:12-31 – Jesus heals the disable and elects as a disciple a sinner called Levi and thus he takes the side of rejected and untouchables; 6:20-26 – Jesus’ proclamation of the beatitudes and God’s promise of consolation for those who are last and least of the society). These and many more of such references bring out the message that God wants to see the joy in the face of every human being who is depressed and discouraged. The presence of Jesus and his power of miraculous healings and his mission of saving the world is proclaimed by John the Baptist when he say that “I baptize you with the water; but there is someone who comes after me, (…). He will baptize in Spirit and in fire.” - Spirit is the source of life and the fire is the symbol of renewal and purification. Baptism of the water which John was exercising is the symbol of God’s deliverance of his people through the waters of red sea from the power of Egyptian slavery. It was the first step and sign for the Covenant that God made with his people. The baptism of the Spirit which Jesus would give is the symbol of God’s love for his people so that they would be saved from the power of sin and death. It is the sign of the Eternal Covenant that God wishes to make with entire humanity in His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, true advent of the Spirit is in and through God’s own beloved “Word made Flesh”. He comes down to be with his people and to fill them with Joy. The first indication after the birth of the Savior would be this: Angels sings with joy and the shepherds visit the stall and are filled with the joy. - Salvation is offered to all: John’s presence and proclamation indicate two events. First of all, he is only the one who prepares the way and secondly, he already reveals the truth that salvation is for all. o As Jesus appears, John disappears slowly: The predication of John is not for himself or for his personal name and fame. He is not here to manifest himself. His life is not for speaking on his own behalf. His mission is only to prepare the way for the Messiah and to show him to the world as the bringer of salvation to all by “taking away the sins of the world”. John’s mission exists and extends until he indicates the “Lamb of God” to the humanity. Thus, he is the messenger who prepares the day of the Coming of the Lord Jesus and he proclaims it on the right day: “the one who comes after me is stronger than me” (Lk 3:16). In fact, people were expecting for a redeemer. They were awaiting him. When the John the Baptist appeared preaching and baptizing and calling people to the life of conversion, people thought that he was the messiah; with the curiosity they asked him whether he himself is the messiah (Lk 3:15). o Salvation is placed at everyone’s door: With his gestures of admonishing the various groups of people, John predicts that Joy of salvation is at everyone’s reach. All sects of people were flocking to John for the baptism and for the conversion of life. Among them, there are common people, there are sinners and there are soldiers. They come and ask him what has to be done for having salvation: “what have we to do” is the question that each one poses to John. John on his part asks them just one thing: to be aware of their duties and to do them with the sincerity of the heart. Nothing more. Enough of completing one’s responsibility with the good will: Salvation will embrace him. It does not matter what kind of section of the society he belong to. Only thing that matter is “to fulfill one’s vocation”. By this the message is clear: salvation, good news of joy, is not reserved for the elected people alone but is offered to all who live and act with justice and charity. It will be manifested ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ. His presence and attitude towards sinners, tax collectors and marginalized reveal that anyone can receive the salvation (Luke 7:1-10, 36-50; 17:11-19; 18:9-14). He proclaims that the Kingdom of God is opened to all and it is already amidst them in his person. Salvation makes one part of the kingdom. Therefore, there is a close relation between the coming of the kingdom and coming of the salvation. Jesus inaugurates it and extends it to entire humanity by his own offering on the cross. This kingdom of God and His salvation are nothing but the peace, love and joy in the Holy Spirit and Paul announces it (Rom 14:17). Conclusion: Our joy must be like a perfume that widens its good smell - Not the pain, we need to share the joy: Today, we are invited to learn and take up two attitudes. First, we need to share our joy with others. Many times we bother ourselves and others by pouring out our difficulties and our pains, our sorrows and our sufferings. But our Christian attitude is to be different: share only the joy, the peace and the happiness. Our Christian life is like a perfume. The nature of the perfume is to reach out and to spread its fragrance to others. It cannot hide itself. It cannot close itself. Christian life is also the same. Our life is not only for ourselves. We cannot close ourselves inside our four walls. We need to move out. We need to open the door of our life. We need to break our barriers of personal life. Our life is for others. Christ did not live even for moment for his self-esteem and self-glory. His life is always for others. We stayed with them. He ate with them. He lived for them. Finally, He died for them. He took the pain of others to himself. He took their place. His glory spread also to them all. He is our source and our force to live for others. The meaning of Christian life is only “sharing of our life”. For this first of all we have to receive the joy offered to us. In every prayers and in every sacramental celebration the grace and salvation is given us. We have every possibility to be filled with the Joy of the Spirit if only we avail ourselves for the action of Jesus. Once we are filled with joy of salvation, we do not remain closed and for ourselves. We reach out to others. Our life becomes an alter of sacrifice and love for others. This is what the message of God’s word invite us to learn. - Not ourselves, we need to place Jesus in front: John the Baptist is the personality of our reflection also for this week. People thought of him as the Messiah. He did not take their thoughts and words for his benefit. He did not enjoy their comments. He did not misuse their misunderstanding. It is because he knew and discerned well his mission: to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. He gave the preference and priority for the vocation that God has given him. He lived for fulfilling God’s will. Today, the invitation is thrown to us to learn from the mission of John the Baptist. We have to give up the tendency of placing ourselves in front. With this temptation we often push back our profession of faith and lose hope and give up the act of love. At this juncture we lose the significance of life and we face distress and distrust. Advent is the time to return to our roots and renew our life. Like John the Baptist, we have to learn to be aware of our Christian dignity and task. Let us place Jesus in front of everything in life. Let us allow him to work in and through us. Only then we will receive the fullness of salvation. Our life will be filled with joy. We become joyful and we share this joy to the world around us.

SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - C

THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – YEAR C (Baruk 5:1-9; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6) Theme: We are invited to be the sign of hope in and for the deserted world Reflection: Advent is a time to prepare our hearts to the coming of Jesus - Preparing the way is required: We enter into the second Sunday of Advent. Our preparation is speeded up. In fact, we have completed one week of preparation. We have been attending and embracing the moments in which the Lord is to come. This was the theme of last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. We need to open our eyes and see the reality around us so that we can be attentive to the presence of the Lord amidst us. We need to open our hearts and invite the Lord whom we have found through our faith so that He dwells in us and pitches his tent within us. This is the heart of the message of advent: to attend with hope and to embrace with love Jesus who is coming to us. In order to receive him into our life we need to prepare well our heart and our life. - Inviting the guest is the human concern: Jesus is at our door. He has come. He is knocking the door of our life. He wishes to enter in and to be with us. He desires to stay very closer to us. We call upon him: Come! Lord Jesus! We shout with loud voice: prepare the way for the Lord. We sing to him: Maranatha, come and reign our hearts. Is it enough? Our vocal invitation, our verbal call and our noisy singing are only external welcome. External invitation is not enough. We need to do something more. We need to listen to his knock. We need to open the door. We need to invite him personally accompanying him into the house. We take utmost care and we put lot of preparation when a guest comes to visit us. We make two-fold preparation. There is material preparation: we clean the house; we put beautiful carpets; we keep the house with neatness and colorfulness; the previous day itself we buy all that is necessary for providing good dinner; when the actual day comes we put on new vesting and wait for his arrival; and finally, enough any small noise on the door we eagerly open the door as though the guest has already arrived. There is also mental preparation: our mind will be little active and little anxious; little active because we love the guest who is coming and thus we want to give our best; little anxious because we do not want to see any inconvenience to take place; we get to mind all the memories of the past of the guest; our heart gets overwhelmed with the thought of the presence of the guest; when the actual moment of the guest’s arrival appears the heart beat gets doubled; lot of cheer on the face; eyes blow with the joy; and finally we cannot but embrace with lot of affection and love the guest. This is the preparation we make to invite a guest who come into our home just to make a visit. We do it because of our human concern and we make the visit a memorable one. - Holding tight the guest of our life is the Christian concern: Advent is the time where we wait for Jesus who comes as a guest. He comes not as a passing guest but as a guest of our life. He comes to stay with us. He comes to live with us. He comes to share his entire existence with us. He comes to make our existence a beautiful and happy one. How much care and concern we need to take? With lot of joy we may prepare our home materially as we do it for the Christmas, the Birth of the Eternal Guest. But the Guest who is coming does not want material preparation. He prefers for the psychological and spiritual preparation. What we need to do is not a casual preparation. We need to prepare our heart. Our heart is already occupied with lot of earthly concerns and passing passions. The dirt of the intentions are to be purified. The walls of heart has to be decorated with the beautiful words and kind deeds. The holes of falsity, untimely fear and useless worries have to be restored with the power of love and desire for the truth. This is the ultimate and highest form of preparation we can make to invite the guest. Words must be surpassed with the actions. Noise and sounds must be replaced by silence and reflection. Only then the knocking of the Eternal Guest is heard clearly. Only then His voice reaches to our heart. Finally, we jump with joy when He arrives because we have already prepared well a beautiful dwelling place for him in our life. He comes and remains with us. His stay transforms our life. We find an unending joy in his presence. The time of Advent is the time to prepare our life in this manner: interior beauty of the heart is the only place that Jesus finds as his appropriate and worthy dwelling. We need to strive for such preparation. The liturgy of the word, today, calls upon for this interior preparation. Readings: Advent is a time to acknowledge and fulfill our mission and vocation - Appearance of John the Baptist: The Gospel passage from Luke presents to us the figure and the personage name John. He appears as the Baptist because he calls the people into the reception of baptism. He starts cleansing the people from their sins if they truly repent and enter into the waters of Jordan. Even prior to this mission of baptizing people, John’s appearance is connected with various socio-political elements. Luke is very particular in bringing the connection between the appearance of the person and the political situation. He does this for two reasons: o God’s interventions in the history and in the space of time: God acts for his people. He desires to stay with them. He comes to them in order to bring them from their fallen state of sin and death to the risen state of glory and eternal bliss. God is so kind and loving that He personally relates himself to his people. His mercy for them makes him to enter into the rapport with them. This is not just a tale or a story in the air. This is a concrete and real intervention of God through various means: his prophets, his spokesmen, his kings and different forms of conversing with his people. At least, from the time of calling of Abraham and creating for himself a nation with which He calls all other nations into the close knit with him, this design and action of God appears as taking place in real history. Luke wants to indicate that God does not act anymore in the air; that his relationship with the people is no more a story of human creation and imagination; above all, he wants to stress upon the concrete action of God in the history of humanity and in time and space. Like all the personalities of the Old Testament, John the Baptist’s appearance also indicates that God acts through him in the particular time, in the particular place, under particular political dominion, and in the particular mode. It is for this purpose that Luke connects the person of John the Baptist with the narration of the political and social conditions of the time. The text makes this clear to us (Luke 3:1-2). It is in this political context that God sends His word through John the Baptist. Thus, God’s word is revealed not somewhere in the remote distances but in the very history of the humanity. o God’s invitation to the conversion and new life: The appearance of John the Baptist is in fact a call that God extends to all the people to return to Him. It is not the first time that God calls his people to change their life and come back to him. He does it often through various prophets. This is yet another instance in which God’s invitation arrives to the people. This instance and the presence of John is very particular because it is a proclamation, proclamation of God’s salvation that is going to appear very soon and in very near future. John is aware of his mission. His mission is only to prepare the way for the great day of salvation and calling the people to get ready to meet the day. The meeting of God’s redemptive design is possible only when they are alert and awake with the change of mind and purification of the heart. He calls for the penitence and the conversion for the forgiveness of sin by receiving a baptism (v.3). The repentance which is in Greek denoted as metanoia means to change not only moral attitude but also and above all, to change the mentality. Change of thinking, change of expressing and change of behaving. John faithfully accomplishes his mission of predicating the good news of salvation. - Every man will see the salvation of God (v.6): John is the personage that the Church provides us for this week to reflect and also to learn to be mindful of our personal mission that God has endowed us with. The last phrase of the Gospel is the destiny of every missionary appeal. God offers salvation to all and all have the possibility of participating in this salvation. Luke wishes to give a particular message by bringing the words of prophet Isaiah through the mouth of John the Baptist: that God will that all men are saved. Here the message of God takes its wide range and extend to all the corners of the earth. God’s love and his restoration embrace every human being. The salvation of God goes beyond the confines of social, political, cultural and religious aspects. This will take place in the advent of God’s Son who will offer his life for the world as the testimony of God’s ultimate love for humanity. The message of John thus takes new shape (breaking the barriers) and gives new hope (salvation for all). Conclusion: Sign of hope for the passage from the waiting of desert to the finding of well-springs - John is a sign of hope in the desert: The appearance and the proclamation of John in the desert is a living sign of hope for the people of Israel. John could have very well stayed amidst the people and given the message of conversion to the people. It would have been more easier and convenient. But his presence is not in the centre of people nor his predication in the streets of the villages. His mission has its realization in the desert. Why this accent on the desert? There is enough significance. The desert indicates the condition of the people of Israel. Their life is like a desert. They are in desperation. They are without joy. They are without any guide and prophets. They became abandoned. For more than five hundred years they are without God’s prophet who can sustain them. In this condition, John appears as God’s merciful providence to them. God speaks to them again through him. God promises them the nearness of their salvation. The presence of John in the desert signifies that God is entering and embracing their condition to change it and to vest it with the garments of joy. Therefore, John’s presence is a sign of hope for them that their deserted life will be transformed into the life of salvation. - The world is like a desert: On one hand, may be, it is growing rapidly with the technological and scientific researches and as the result man is mastering the world. On the other hand, the danger also exists along with the growth. Man is ignoring and neglecting the presence and power of God who is the author of every life, as a result he becomes selfish, egoistic, consumerist, and finally loses his soul and spiritual life. As he moves closer to the economic, political, social and personal status, he moves away from the manifestation of faith and preservation of the soul. Jesus admonishes: if a man gains whole world and loses his soul, what would be the profit he makes. The world is in reality without true joy. It has become mechanic. System rules it and machines dominate it. Man and his physical, psychological and spiritual world remains unconcerned. There is lot of mental stress and power struggle. Man is working hard and hard and working without any rest. Finally, his work and his living do not balance. At the end of the day, he finds himself at loss. Family is disturbed with the problems of egoistic imbalances: brokenness in the affection and sentiment. Social is affected with the problems of predominance and selfish growth: false prestige takes the upper hand. Mental life is suppressed with the struggle between right to live and scarcity of the possibility to life: loss of peace and tranquility. Spiritual life is at stake with the incoherence between the testimony of the word and the testimony of life: creature questions the creator. Such is the condition of the world and of the man who lives in it. What could be the possible sign of hope for this world? - We are to be the sign of salvation in the deserted world: Today, we are called to be that hope. Our presence in the world to be a sign of salvation and a good news of joy to the world around us. It is possible only when recognize our Christian vocation. Our vocation is to receive the grace from the Lord, live and testimony it with word and deed, and finally to spread the inner joy to the fellow being in and around us. Our presence should give a hope that the Lord is visiting his people. Our predication should lead the people to the springs of authentic and true human life. Our life should be a sign post which guides those who are in utter depression and total loss of life to the feet of the cross. Only there, and there alone, they can drink the waters of renewed life and the blood of salvation. Therefore, advent is the time in which we need to be the testimony of God’s presence and his constant visit to each and every person. We need to do it first of with the interior and personal growth in faith. Then we need to live a coherent life between what we say and what we do. Only then our proclamation will have some effect on the lives of those whom we meet. We need to prepare ourselves to be the way for the coming of the Lord so that all will see His salvation in us and through us.

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE ADVENT - C

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – C (Jer 33:14-16; Tess 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) Theme: We are invited to attend and embrace the Lord who comes Reflection: Advent is a time to renew our walk of faith - Advent reminds us that we have one more year of God’s merciful providence: From today we enter into the season of Advent. It is the first season with which we begin the Liturgical Year C. It is a period of reflection and preparation for the coming of Jesus. Advent means “coming”. What we are called to do in this time is: to wait and await the advent of the fulfillment of the promises in our life. God has promised man an eternal life and glory. This promise is realized and brought into ultimate fulfillment through the mystery of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Master and Savior and He is the final goal of our Hope of this earthly life. Every day is the day that is donated to us by the abundant mercy of God. We need to utilize time provided for renewing our mind, our heart, our soul and our spirit, in a word, our entire life. We need to better it by the listening to the word of God, and by pondering over it, as Mary, the Icon for the Incarnation mystery. We have completed one year of walk of faith. We have learned little more about the life of Jesus. We have come little more closer to Jesus after a year of meditation on the life and works of Jesus. We have been following him with the testimony of our word and our deed. The liturgical year of B is over. One year of our intimacy with Jesus we have finished. Now, God provides us another year of liturgical celebrations. God gives us one more opportunity to introspect and see if everything has gone well in our spiritual growth. We are exactly entering into that gifted time: a possibility to examine our life and seek for the further growth in the Spirit of Christ. God himself encourages and empowers us by giving us His Only Son Jesus Christ in the form of the Word and the Sacrament. - Reflection on the Two Advents: We are here today to meditate on the Lord who comes. We believe and we recognize the truth that the Lord has already come. Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world in the past history. He has lived for thirty three years. He has revealed God’s love to the humanity. He has give the testimony to the God’s Kingdom and His redemptive design. He himself is the fulfillment of God’s promise. He brought into realization this promise of salvation of the world in His Paschal Mystery: His Passion, Death and Resurrection. This is the first Advent: the first coming of the Lord in humility and obedience. The ultimate fruit of His First Coming is this: he has opened the doors of heaven closed by the human sin and he has prepared a passage into the eternal life. Every human being is offered such a possibility of entering into the kingdom of heaven. This possibility is always there for the one who places himself in the way prepared by Him. Yet, there is another Advent: the second coming of the Lord in glory and in power. This coming is beyond human expectation. No one knows about it. No one can predict about its arrival. There is only a secure promise that the Lord will come. Biblical revelation throws a special attention to this. In all the gospels there is direct predication of Jesus himself about the Son of Man who will come in Glory (for immediate reference we have today’s gospel). This coming will be very powerful. Every human being and every creature in the world has to face this second coming of the Lord. Everyone will be made present in front of the Lord: they will wait for the reward worthy of their earthly testimony of life. The ultimate consequence of this second advent of Christ is this: he will judge every creature with justice and will reward according to their merit. - Advent reminds us that We are in the Journey to Meet Our Lord: Our present life on earth falls between these two advents. We are here making our journey to meet the Lord. Our journey is enforced by the faith we have in the first coming of Jesus and is enriched by the hope we have in the second coming of Jesus. Therefore, our entire journey is based on the triple virtues: faith, hope and charity. For, in our present journey, faith is point of our departure, hope is the point of our arrival and charity is point of nourishment. In fact, we have initiated our walk through the baptism, where we have professed our faith in the mystery of Jesus Christ. We are still walking, trying hard not to miss the way, along the passage that Jesus himself has trodden for us with hope that one day we will reach our destiny. We sustain our journey with the food: food of charitable works. Our being present to the situation of the community and to the needs of our brethren is the highest degree of Charity we can demonstrate. And Advent is the period in which the Church makes us to reflect on the possibility of meeting the Lord. Advent reminds us that we have not yet completed our race but still continuing it and will continue it until that great day of joy. The readings inspire us and throw a torch on our way and they make easy and available the passage our pilgrimage. Readings Raise the Head and Look High with Joy - Promise of a Sprout of Justice (first reading): God is faithful in his promises. He accomplishes all that He wills in the due and appointed time. People of Israel, whom He has chosen for Himself, are in the land of slavery. They suffer a lot for the infidelity they showed to their God. In this desperate condition, God makes a promise to them through the prophet Jeremiah. The principle essence of His promise is clear: He will make sprout the Messiah who will bring these people back into true life, life of joy and freedom. The one who come will be named as the “The Lord – Our Justice”. People who receive these promises can once again look up with the hope. They need not sit in the pit of discouragement and abandonment. The moment will arrive soon. The moment which will remove the veil of fear and frustration in the people who are struggling in the foreign land. The moment which will cover them with the cloth of justice and joy. This moment is the advent of the Jesus Christ, the Word of God assuming human nature. Through and in His Coming, the Lord has accomplished his act of justice. - Raise up your head and heart in courage and hope (Gospel): Jesus is speaking about the end of times. He already predicates how the day will be. Indeed, for last two to three weeks we have been reflecting on the last happenings. Today’s gospel is crystal clear in revealing the truth of the day of judgment. Jesus makes evident two characteristics of the Last Day: first, something that will happen to frighten those who are not ready; and second, something that will in any way affect those who are ready. First happening consists in the signs that will take place both in the sky and on the earth. In the skies: The sun will not rise anymore, the moon will not shine any longer, the stars disappear completely and there will take place utter darkness. On the earth: there will appear misery and anguish among people, they will face fear and frustration and there will be only death everywhere. This takes place in the lives of those who never expected and prepared themselves for the day. It falls on them as the powerful and sudden attack. In the second happening, something quite different take place. It takes place in the life of those who have followed the way of the Lord. They are the disciples of Jesus. They will not be affected or overtaken by these happenings. Jesus promises and exhorts his disciples: you do not worry or get upset when these things take place, instead, be joyful and raise up your head on high because it is the time of your salvation (gospel). The disciples are those who have already prepared for this hour. They have been attentively waiting for this moment with the life of kind words and charitable deeds. They have been eager expecting it. Finally, when the Day of the Lord has arrived (Advent) they are found ready and worthy. The darkness of the sky will not be to bite them. The fear of earth will not be able to swallow them. They have fought well and become victorious. They are in the grade of meeting the Lord in glory and in power. We are those disciples and we will be firm in our fight against the darkness of doubts and the clutches of perdition. We have nothing to fear. We have nothing to lose. We are ready to meet our Master. We will look high with joy and with hope. To reach such a stage of life we are invited to do two things: attend and embrace the day. Conclusion An invitation to attend and to embrace the Lord who is coming - Attending means “to open the eyes”: we are invited to attend the day of the Lord. Attending is not a mere word. It call for a careful observation. We need to observe the things that are happening around us. Where is my personal life heading to? How is my attitude in the family atmosphere and parental relationships? What am I doing for the society I am living in? what is the contribution that I am making to the world finally with the life I am living in this world? These questions provoke our attention. Each moment we need to examine well the reality in which we find ourselves. We are not blind and we should not be indifferent. We need to open wide our eyes to research well what is taking place in and through us. We are indeed capable of doing this. We are human beings not only with instinct behavior but with the gift of intelligence. We need to be wise in order to be true human beings. As wise and free beings we are given the capacity to distinguish what is good and what is bad. We have to arrive to the level of identifying the good and opting for it because it constructs the life. We need to also learn to throw aside what is bad and not useful because it only destroys the life. Attending, in profundity, means this: becoming capable of looking for what is good and edifying. - Embracing means “to open the heart”: knowing what is good and what is bad is not enough. There is a need for further step. To embrace what is good at any cost. True and authentic wise man does this. We know many things. We analyze number of situations. We observe and distinguish that which is valuable and useful. But when it comes to the matter of holding on to what we have known we step back. Because it is little challenging. It demands concrete action. Our problem lies here. We know well but we do not accept it. The true embrace calls for opening up of the heart. What does it mean? When the heart is open, there exists only one thing: love. Love endures. Love confronts. Love comprehends. Love empowers us with the concrete action. We are invited to do exactly this. We need to attend our life of faith as the first step. And we need to make it part and parcel of our life as the immediate step. - Attend and embrace the Lord who comes: Today, in this first Sunday of the Advent, we are called to be attentive to the coming of the Lord and to be ready to receive him wholeheartedly when he arrives. The truth of faith is this: even prior to our attending and embracing, Jesus himself attends us and embraces us. He is waiting for us with the wide open arms. He is speaking to us with the word proclaimed. He is donating his Body and Blood as our daily spiritual nourishment. Therefore, Jesus himself is the Master from whom we can learn the meaning of attending and embracing. If we close our eyes we cannot attend the coming of the Lord. If we close our hearts we cannot receive him. If we are indifferent to his presence we will be trapped into the obscurity of life: desperation, frustration, fear of even small disturbances. What is ultimately required of us in this season of Advent, therefore, is: to create little space for Jesus in our life. Creating space for Jesus means allowing him to act in us and through us. Then only, we become an advent of grace for others.

CHRIST THE KING - YEAR B

THIRTY FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: Solemnity of the Christ the King (Daniel 7:13-14; Rev 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37) Theme: Jesus invites us to place ourselves under His Kingship Reflection: Kingship of Jesus Christ revealed in His Ultimate Obedience and Service - Culmination of the liturgical year with the sovereignty of Jesus: Today is the last Sunday of the Liturgical year B. From the next Sunday, from the first week of Advent, we start new year of liturgy. We have been preparing ourselves throughout this year just for this: to get place in the kingdom of God inaugurated and revealed to us by Jesus Christ. We have been listening to his voice which has come to us through the Scriptures. We have been nourishing ourselves with his spiritual food which has come to us through the celebration of the sacramental mysteries. Day by day we have been growing in faith. We have completed our race of faith of this liturgical year. At the end, today, if we find ourselves under the reign of Christ, our race has reached its destiny. Otherwise, we have not yet made an adequate attempt to the leadership of Jesus. We need to examine over our life of faith: where and how did we start our movement? How far we have reached? Now where are we exactly? Aim of the reflection of the gospels week by week is to form and reform ourselves so that we are always with Christ. In this way, the church invites us each year to begin the liturgical year with the dedication and to complete it with the commitment. Today, after our one year of faith journey we need to accept, follow and embrace the sovereignty of Jesus. - Radical Question and Quest into research – Did Jesus ever proclaim himself a king?: If we gaze into the gospels it is clear that Jesus has never proclaimed himself a king and he never wanted to claim to be a king. Almost all the gospels speak of the kingship of Jesus only in the presence of Pilot and before his judgment. In outset, the conversation is very simple and casual without any intensive approach. Pilot asks Jesus: ‘Are you a king?’ and Jesus does not confirm but only affirms: ‘you tell it’ (Math 27:11), the same appears in Mark 15:2, and Luke 23:3; the discourse is not continued on the kingship, not even the scribes and the Jewish authority; they just bypass it as though it is not the exact thing what they wanted to talk. In John’s gospel the dialogue between Pilot and Jesus taken dramatic turn as we read it in today’s gospel (John 18:28-38). Here, on one hand, Pilot wants to hear the personal testimony of Jesus proclaiming himself as a king and on the hand, Jesus replies first with the silence and then with the kingdom from above. Neither here, Jesus wants to declare himself as king. He reveals only the purpose of his presence: I have to come to give testimony to the truth (v.37). All these citations show that Jesus is not interested in being ‘raised to the glory of the king’. - Kingship! Both hidden and at the same time revealed: On one side, Jesus does not reveal his kingship. In fact, Jesus never wanted it and he is not so much interested in proclaiming himself a king. He is aware and conscious of only his mission. He has come to be with the poor and therefore, to identify himself as – humble and obedient servant – sent by God to proclaim and fulfill the kingdom of God. On the other side, the revelation of his kingship has never been stopped. From the moment of his annunciation to Mary (Lk 1:30ff), with the promise that the one who is to be born will be a king, to the moment of his death on the cross with the inscription on the cross – Jesus king of Jews. It is revealed by first Angel Gabriel, by the Magi, even by simple people when they wanted to make him a king after the miracle of multiplication of bread, and on the cross; Readings Kingship is a crown for His Total Self-surrender to the Will of God - Jesus Christ accepted to assume the figure of the son of man (first reading): The revelation of the Scriptures is that Jesus Christ is given the power and is made the Head of everything. He is raised up in glory and given the power. “To Him are given the power, glory and the kingdom; all the peoples, nations and languages were serving him: his power is an eternal power, which never finishes, and his reign will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14). This is the vision of Daniel long before the coming of Jesus into the world. In his vision he does not see the One who is coming as the king. He sees someone similar to the “son of man” (Daniel 7:13). But this son of man is later given the power and the kingdom. Here, Jesus Christ is manifested as the Son of Man, not as a king. Jesus gives completion and perfection by calling himself as the Son of Man: “Son of Man has to be delivered into the hands of the sinners and they will put him to death and on the third day he will raise again”. Jesus proclaims his death three times before his actual death. All the three times he proclaims himself as Son of Man and not as a king. But this son of man will be raised up to the glory and will be given the power just because Jesus Christ accepted with all his loving will to be the figure of this son of man prophesied in the Old Testament. - Jesus Christ accepted to be the faithful testimony of God’s love for the world (second reading): Theology of John is quite different from other gospel writers. For John Jesus Christ is the Word of the Father who has come down from heaven. His purpose of coming is not to dominate the world and manifest his glory in the material manner. His only mission is to reveal God’s love for the salvation of man. John reveals the mission of the Word already in the beginning of his writings. In his gospel, John proclaims that the Word has come down to give the testimony to the Father. Even in today’s second reading, taken from the book of Revelation, demonstrates who is actually Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is first of all, a faithful testimony, first born of the dead, and finally is the sovereign of all the kings of the earth (Rev 1:5). John does not indicate Jesus as a king at first instance. For him, the kingship has been given to him by the Father for the faithful subjection to the Father in fulfilling his will of redeeming humanity. Only after being the testimony of God’s love by his word and deed, only after offering his life on the cross with obedience and only after rising from the dead, he becomes the king of the universe. Therefore, the purpose of his coming is not to take over the humanity in his hands as the only author but to be the testimony of His Father’s love doing only what His Father commands. - His mission is to give testimony to the truth, not to be a ruler of the world (Gospel): as we have already seen above, the confrontation between Pilot and Jesus is dramatic. Finally, Jesus affirms only one thing: “for this I am born and for this I have come into the world: to give testimony to the truth” (the ending words of today’s gospel). Every word he has spoken and every action he has accomplished is not from his own will but from the will of the Father who has send him into the world. This is only testimony that Jesus gives of himself and nothing else. All other acclamations are from the overwhelming joy of the people who has seen his astonishing presence and power. Even before his death, in front of Pilot, he holds this testimony. He affirms only one thing that his kingdom is not of this world. But never speaks of, or proclaims himself as king. His kingdom is given to him by the Father for the faithful testimony he has rendered in the world and for the humanity. Conclusion We are invited to learn that “to reign is to serve” - We are called to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the King of the Universe: Jesus has manifested his ultimate obedience and humility to His Father. God, His Father, has revealed His regality/kingship to the people through different ways and modes – God always speaks in the various means. By this we understand that it is finally the ‘simple and perfect event’ of ultimate obedience to the will of God that made him ‘the king over all’ (Phil 2:6-11). It is God who has put everything under His subjection so that everything will be brought back it its original place: being in God – that is, God be all in all. o But the church acknowledges and proclaims Jesus the King because of His ultimate sacrifice for the salvation of mankind as a Good Shepherd – the shepherd who gives his life for his flock; she proclaims him to be the ‘king of the universe’. thus, He becomes Shepherd-King. o Universe – both creation and the humanity – is affected very badly and is in the clutches of sin and death and is, therefore, in need of a savior who will have an ultimate victory over these two powers - sin and death - and places the universe in its right post. Jesus is a king because he wins and he is a king of universe because he wins over the powers that hold in their power the whole creation and thus becomes the ‘King of the Universe’. Jesus is the king because he wins the sin through his innocent sacrifice and the death through his resurrection to new life – gives back the kingdom of peace and justice to God. o His victory is not with the army of the world as he professes in the court of the Pilot but belongs to the other world and therefore, to the world of the Father and His Angels; therefore, his fight and his war is not with the horse and sword, which is the normal understanding of a king, but with the Spirit and Love, a new, radical and a spiritual understanding of kingship. This is the criteria through which he will also, one day, call everything into judgment: with the manifestation of love in the proper life; this way, thus, he becomes the ‘King-Judge’. As such he divides the good and the bad and places them in the posts they deserve for their testimony of life on earth. - To place ourselves under His kingship means “to follow him and to serve our brethren”: The Path made Simple and Accessible. First we have to follow him: We need not struggle too much in order to enter the kingdom of God. The path is already paved. Only thing we need to do is to listen to his invitation and to follow him with commitment. His call is: ‘come, you blessed by my Father into the heavenly kingdom’. And he affirms that those who listen to him are his sheep: “my sheep listen my voice”. To follow him means exactly this: to place ourselves in his footsteps. Second, we have extend our service to our fellow beings: great deeds are not demanded from us. God asks from us our daily and small things: A slice of bread to the hungry. A glass of water to the thirst. A piece of cloth to the naked. A kind word to the disappointed/stranger. A small visit to the sick. And finally, in a word, a merciful glance to the needy. These ‘daily gestures’ are the fulfillment of the totality of the beatitudes that Jesus proposed already at the beginning of his mission of ‘realization of the kingdom of God.’ We are called to do this and once we do these little things to the little ones around us, we are sure of standing at the right side of the judgment seat – through which we receive crown of glory and eternal happiness. Therefore, Let us place ourselves under the kingship of Jesus Christ and thus become part of God’s kingdom so that we are in the Lord and the Lord is in us.

THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

tr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: (Daniel 12:1-3; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32) Theme: We are called to attend and embrace the Lord who comes Reflection: We are in the movement towards the end - Recapituation – Parusia – Apocalypse: We are heading towards the end of the Liturgical Year B. Within few days we will be starting the New Year of the Liturgy. The conclusion of every Liturgical Year is with the Solemnity of the Christ, the King which falls next Sunday. In this context, the Church asks us to reflect over the end of times. The Church through the reading of today presents to us what is the final end of the creation. According to the Scriptures and the Christian theology the end of times does not mean the end of the world. The end of times means the recapitulation of whole universe, of whole history and of whole human life in the Lordship of Christ. Recapitulation is the Pauline term (Eph 1:10) used to signify the gathering of every creature under its “Head”, its Lord, its Prince, its King for its final meaning of life. This recapituation has also two connotations in the biblical language: parusia and apocalypse. The first is the Parusia which means the presence: coming of the Lord and its ultimate sense is that “all will be in all” (1 Cor 15:28); everything will find its place and participation in the Kingdom of God; in fact, for this every Christian repeat the words of Jesus in the great prayer of Our Father: “Your Kingdom Come and Your Will be Done” (Math 6:10). The second is the apocalypse which means revelation: God will be manifested in His Ultimate Glory; every veil will be removed and everything will be made crystal clear; every creature will see God face to face and this the fullest of revelation. Our Christian journey is always towards this end: our final meeting with the Lord. - It is a journey with Hope: The biblical revelation provides us the picture of our Christian end. It is to participate in the eternal life that God has promised to us in his project of love. We are already inserted into this participation in the eternal bliss through the sacramental life. But it is still to be achieved in its fullness. Here we encounter the challenge of life: we are given the taste of eternal life but we have to still walk towards it realization. Human life is already made for this: to meet the Lord here and now with the commitment of life in faith and to become one with him at the end of our earthly existence. Here we see the tension between what we are now and what we have to achieve in future. This is the tension in Christian terminology: between “Already” and “Not Yet”. We are already in the Lord but we have not yet seen the final glory. In this context the only redeeming element we have is hope. In the existential tension of humanity the only solution is to hope. Hope will make us live. Without hope we are already dead. Pope Benedict XVI proclaims that the hope sustains the life. His words enlighten and inspire us and keep us walk in faith to live. “it is true that anyone who does not know God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope, without the great hope that sustains the whole of life (cf. Eph 2:12). Man's great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God—God who has loved us and who continues to love us “to the end,” until all “is accomplished” (cf. Jn 13:1 and 19:30). Whoever is moved by love begins to perceive what “life” really is. He begins to perceive the meaning of the word of hope that we encountered in the Baptismal Rite: from faith I await “eternal life”—the true life which, whole and unthreatened, in all its fullness, is simply life. Jesus, who said that he had come so that we might have life and have it in its fullness, in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10), has also explained to us what “life” means: “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). Life in its true sense is not something we have exclusively in or from ourselves: it is a relationship. And life in its totality is a relationship with him who is the source of life. If we are in relation with him who does not die, who is Life itself and Love itself, then we are in life. Then we “live” (Spe Salvi, 27). - Hope recalls for the research and vigilence: Hope does not mean that we keep aside all our responsibities and wait for God’s intervention. Hoping means leading the life with continuous and untiring research for the meaningful life and vigilence to safeguard it from the evil powers. o Research makes us to see God as the source of life and our destiny. It encourages us to follow what is pleasing to Him and thus enpowers us to accomplish it at any cost. It also enables us to distinguish between that which passes away and that which remain for ever: that which is temporary and that which is eternal, that which is accidental and that which is definitive. Today’s gospel presents to us that everything will pass away and disappear and what remain without any destruction is “the word of God”: God and his love. o Vigilance makes us attentive and careful in the every step we put forward. It reaches us safe to our destiny. It illuminates our path and makes us to see well our road towards our communion with God. It allows us to question ourselves: where are we coming from? What is the origin of our life? Where are heading to? And what is our destiny? Vigilance means to keep awake and answer these question with an adequate significance. It makes us look for the better way. It help us to refresh always our mind, heart and the spirit, thus our words, actions and life. It reminds us that we are accountable for every word we speak, every action we fulfill and every testimony we manifest. It first of all indicates the path that is correct and makes us follow it without missing the way: without slipping into the pit of ruin and destruction. Thus hope makes us to live and to live for the promise of eternal life. Readings: Promise of Eternal Bliss for those who keep awake and attentive in faith and in charity - Those who are in dust will wake up again (first reading): We are given a promise of hope through the imaginary description of Daniel. Those who are in the dust will rise again. Who are those that are in the dust? It may have two meanings: first deals with the present life and the second denotes the eschatological meaning. Remain in the dust means to remain without life. o Firstly, it happens often in the existential contexst of man: Man is often desperate and confused with the different forces of life: his life is surrounded by various tensions. He does not live anymore voluntarily. He is forced to live. He is afraid of death, therefore he continues to live. Life is not really a life in his context. He is heavey with the burdens of family incomprehensions, social-economic-political surpress, and spiritual fluctuations of faith. On the one hand, he is dragged to this situation by the passing passions of the world and the flesh. On the other hand, man has given up his capacity to discern what is enough for him. He often blindly placed in the crossroads of the life: he is faced with different directions without knowing what way to take up. Even in the christian life this has taken place. Christian knows and acknowledges what and who is the Truth, the Way and the Life, Jesus. Still he finds himself in the dust of desparation because he has surrendered himself to the modernity of the world. Giving priority to the daily requirements of the world he has pushed back the life of faith. He has lost his Christian dignity and capacity to combat with the evil tendencies. He has fallen into the trap of false prestige, passing power and unnecessary ambitions. His state of life is exactly as in the state of dust: without having true life. Yet, there is a promise to such man and to such christian: a return to life, a coming back to the new life. There is always a way out for him: way of conversion. Infact, the possibility of resurrection from the worldly clutches is offered to him. It is always at the door of his life. He has to only open the door and make it enter. This new life is given to man in and by the mystery of Jesus Christ here and now. As the second reading reminds us: Jesus has offered once and for all a sacrifice of salvation and made whole humanity perfect (Heb 10:11-14). o Secondly, it will take place in the final consummation of the world: the promise of God remains forever. His words remain forever. Daniel proclaim through his visions that all thoso who are in the dust will come back to life. The second meaning of “staying dust” is eschatological. It means that “all those who are dead” ( those returned to the dust) will be resurrected in the end of days for the final judgement. All will see “the day” in which the Glory of the Lord shines. Those who lived according to the faith and love for the Lord will participate in that glory. In stead, all those who refused to accept and to follow the Word will be thrown away into the eternal darkness. - The day will certainly come (Gospel): Although nobody knows when and how, the return of the Lord will surely take place. Jesus himself promises it in today’s gospel and his words will not pass away. The coming of the Lord should not frighten us. The words used, either in the first reading or in the gospel, are “time for anguish”, “judgment”, “the signs from the heavens” – they belong to the apocalyptic language. These words seem to terrorize us, but in reality they are not. They only alert our conscience and our attitude. We need not to fear of all these that will happen in the future. They serve as the guiding steps: they help us to walk in the way of the Lord with reverential fear. In reality, these words and images found in today’s readings, invite us to place our trust in the mercy of the Lord. We need to stand before him not with the terror but with the fear. The fear of the Lord, here, means the reverence, the admiration. It means the gratitude towards God who shows his power not in punishing us but in kindness and forgivenss. A fear which means the hope. The illuminating words of Pope Benedict will encourage us: “A world without God is a world without hope (cf. Eph 2:12). Only God can create justice. And faith gives us the certainty that he does so. The image of the Last Judgment is not primarily an image of terror, but an image of hope; for us it may even be the decisive image of hope” (Spe Salvi, 44). The words of the Pope remind us that there is a task to accomplish: task of committed faith, unwavering hope and unconditional love. Conclusion: Time to prepare the balance sheet our life - We need to prepare the accounts our life: what is the consequence of the reading we have heard? The readings call for our attention and our vigilance. They invite us to prepare an account sheet of all that we have done in life. One day, we need to stand before Jesus and answer his questions. We need to submit to him the list of the things he has called us to fulfill and the things that we have actually done in life. If there is a correct balance between what he demanded from us and what we have accomplished we are safer side. We will see the glory of the Lord. We cannot in any way escape his questionaire. We cannot in any way bypass his judgment. Especially, in our present situation, we need to examine and see how far we have reached in our journey towards him. We need to observe and make an account of the “walk of faith” we started one year ago. The liturgical year is coming to end. Every year, we need to prepare our progress report. Each word we have uttered is accountable. Each action we have accomplished is accountable. Each moment of testimony of life is accountable. We need to make a careful balance sheet our life. In other words, this is nothing but an assessment of our life: evaluating the good we have done and the bad we are tempted to do. What is the result of this preparation of an account of life? - We need to better our future: the result of an examination of all that have done is the betterment of the life. We can better our words we speak, actions we do and the testimony we give. We will be able to add little more kindness to our words. We will be able to add little more vigor to our actions. And we will be able to add little more truthfulness and faithfulness to our testimony. Human life is always a life forward. Christian life is always a life forward and upward. We need to grow. We need to better. We need to clear our way to reach the Lord. All this will take place effectively with the preparation of account of life. It will provide to us the clear picture of our status: what we are and where we are. It will also serve us as a torching light to show our direction. We will be able to place ourselves in the correct position of faith, hope and love. Once we return to original dignity of being the children of God, we have the possibility of walking straight in his ways this time. Only this way we can do justice to our theme of today: let us prepare ourselves to embrace the Lord who is coming.

THIRTY SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

THIRTY SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: (1Kings 17:10-16; Heb 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44) Theme: Slogan of Christian Faith is – “Donate with the heart” Reflection: We need to make an analysis of our movement towards others - Attitude of giving with the heart: The Church invites us today to learn the attitude of giving the heart rather than the economic help. Indeed, the extention of the charitable help in the form of clothes, provisions, and the money is important. Even this help has to be done with the conviction of the heart and with the loving soul. Donation is the moment in which the true solidarity and being-with the other is manifested. In the Christian faith the giving, or the offering, is the virtue that takes precedence of all the prayerful formulas. Charity has to be the result of faith and faith must lead to the action. Faith without actions is useless and action without faith is not perfect. Therefore, prayer and reflection has a value when they are followed by the concrete actions. Otherwise, charity remains only as the word to be spoken and the good topic to be written. The Church does not will that our faith remains only within the walls of the beautiful edifice. Giving is an human virtue and giving with love is a christian virtue. Thus, the exortation of the Church through the readings of today is this: let us learn to give and give with the true love in the heart. - Church is the testimony of the charitable works: Infact, Church itself is the great manifestation of the solidarity with the world both in its proclamation and in its reaching out to the needful society. Pope John Paul II expresses that there is a demand for a compassionate response from the Christians for the needs of the world (NMI, 50). To follow the Pontiff faithfully it is better to listen to his own words: “The scenario of poverty can extend indefinitely, if in addition to its traditional forms we think of its newer patterns. These latter often affect financially affluent sectors and groups which are nevertheless threatened by despair at the lack of meaning in their lives, by drug addiction, by fear of abandonment in old age or sickness, by marginalization or social discrimination. In this context Christians must learn to make their act of faith in Christ by discerning his voice in the cry for help that rises from this world of poverty. This means carrying on the tradition of charity which has expressed itself in so many different ways in the past two millennia, but which today calls for even greater resourcefulness. Now is the time for a new "creativity" in charity, not only by ensuring that help is effective but also by "getting close" to those who suffer, so that the hand that helps is seen not as a humiliating handout but as a sharing between brothers and sisters. We must therefore ensure that in every Christian community the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the Kingdom? Without this form of evangelization through charity and without the witness of Christian poverty the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today's society of mass communications. The charity of works ensures an unmistakable efficacy to the charity of words.” (NMI, 50). Church first of all witnesses charity by its presence and social upliftment work. She also calls the christians “to be with the needy”. To be means to share and to participate in the conditions of the others. - How is our movement towards others? Today, with the inspiring readings, the Church calls us to analyze what we are for others and how we move towards others. Present and modern man who is burdened with innumerous tensions needs more of the attentive presence than economic or material help. The material help feeds the needy for the temporary satisfaction and he is again in need. Instead, what is demanded of the christian charity is the loving presence and solidarity of the heart. Pope Benedict XVI affirms this in his Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, 2 when he says that “Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the synthesis of the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36- 40). It gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbour; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones). For the Church, instructed by the Gospel, charity is everything because, as Saint John teaches (cf. 1 Jn 4:8, 16) and as I recalled in my first Encyclical Letter, “God is love” (Deus Caritas Est): everything has its origin in God's love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed towards it. Love is God's greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope.” Charity means, thus, looking in the face of the person with love and brotherhood. Jesus has done this and He asks us to do the same. This is the true, sincere and generous that the Christians are called to manifest. This is the summary of the readings and we understand it better when we reflect the readings. Readings: The Look of Jesus penetrates the intention of the heart - Faith in the Prophet of God (First Reading): The widow in the first reading is the model for the confidence that we need to place in God’s providence. The prophet of God has visited the widow and asked for some bread. The widow is perplexed and afraid. She is perplexed because of the scarsity of the flavor of wheet she has. She has only a very small portion of the flavor. She knows that it is not sufficient for her and her son and if she shares it with a another person it is not enough even for one time consumption. She is afraid of losing the little she has and is also afraid of dying of the lack of bread when this little gets over. But the man of God, the prophet admonishes and encourages her: “do not be afraid … first of all prepared a piece of bread for me and than for you and for your son” (v.13). The widow is able to see in the words of the prophet a word of God. She is able to recognize that it is not just this man who is asking but it is God himself who is requesting her for the bread. Once she realizes she does not hesitate anymore. Her perplexity and her fear have disappeared. She is filled with the faith in the man of God and confidence in the hand of God. She prepares the bread and three of them eat for several days. Her complete faith in the divine providence has saved her from the castigue of the nation. She has given to God with the complete trust and confidence and enjoyed the consequence: the life does not see death even in the darkest conditions. - Offering of the totality of life (Gospel): The widow in the Gospel is the model for the utter dependence only on God. Jesus is in the temple observing well those who are putting the coins in the offerty box. There are many who are dropping in the box good amount. Each one opens his pocket, takes out his purse and chooses one amount from the number of currency notes and puts it in the box. They are good insofar they are sharing their havings with God and with others. They are pleased to offer from their abundance. They feel it as an obligation to give something of their earning and savings. It is good. Behind all these obligatory givers there comes a poor widow. By her social status itself she is considered to be poor and below margin. By her appearance too she look very poor. Jesus is curios to see her. Until now he has seen many rich and well being men who come with the head high and the neck stiff and dropping the money with lot of vigor. Now he is more attentive towards this poor widow. He watches her carefully. The widow comes to the offerty box. Opens her small bag of cloth. She takes out what she has. There are only two coins. She does not hesitate. She drops two coins immediately in the box. Jesus is taken up by wonder and astonishment. She admires and praises her act. He immediately calls his disciples and offers them a teaching: “In truth I tell you: this widow, who is very poor, has dropped into the treasury more than all others. Infact, all have put some part of their overflow. She, instead, in her misery, has put everything she has, everything she has for living” (vv.43-44). What is asked of a christian is exactly this: offering the totality of life to the one who has given the life. And the widow is the greatest example for us today. - Not the Logic of the World but of the Heart: The widow of the Gospel does not follow the logic of the world. Logic of the world tells you that you share, with you human attitude, atleast something of what you are and what you have. If the widow has to follow this she has to give only one coin as an offering. She does not want to think as the world thinks with regard to the offering to God. Infront of God she does not want to hesitate. Infront of God she does not want to count. Infront of God she does not go for play of life. Infront of God she does not hide anything or draw back to herself anything. She did not give place to the logic. She has given prominence to the heart. Heart knows what is prior and important in life. She knows that if she offers two coins, all that she has, she will not have anything for the next moment. She does not think of the future. All that she believes is that it is God who gives and it is God who asks from us everything of our life. By offering all that he has he has thrown herself on the shoulders of God. She has placed herself completely in God. She has commended her life into the hands of God. This is the logic of the heart and this is the logic of the spirit. The world and its calculations do not understand this. We instead are to surpass the logic of human mind and give importance to the logic of the heart and soul. And we find our life in God as the widow has found her life in God. - Jesus’ look enters deep into giver’s intention: It is only Jesus who finds the difference. He recognizes and scrutinizes the intentions of the giver. He observes not only with the eyes but with the spirit. He observes not only the hands that put the money into the treasury but also the deepest motivations of the heart. His look is so deep that it penetrates the mind and soul. His look can find out with what kind of motive the people offer. It is this look that makes the difference between the many and the poor widow. He does not see just the quantity (how much) of what is given. He sees only the quality (with what intention) of what is offered. Giving is just an human goodness but offering life is the Christian love. Jesus infact asks us for this: not the quanity of life (how long and how well one lives) but the quality of life (how much one gives himself for the others). Conclusion: Not the Quantity but the Quality of the help to be manifested - “Not-enough” leads to the “More-than-enough”: What we need to learn today is that once we have offered to God and to others with the complete trust and confidence it will create a miracles. “I have only a little”, “I am poor and what can I give”, “it may not be enough for all”, “my small portion of help cannot change the world”, these are the excuses that we find for escaping from the generous help we need to extend. For God and infront of God these phrases would not work. For him anything is possible. He can bring anything and everything out of nothing. He is Omnipotent and Almighty. He providence is always availabe for those who place their faith in him. The flavor and the oil of the widow, in the first reading, are never over. The little has become abundant and what she thought “may not be enough” has become “more-than-enough”. She thought the she would live only for a day or two with what he has. But when she has given to the man of God, or to God, all that she has given, it has become every flowing that they ate it for many days. The widow in the gospel has given only two coins but it is not something for Jesus. It is everything for him. He sees whole of her life in those two coins. His admiration is always for him. It is with this attitude that we need to do our charity. We may be poor to offer more, we may be incapable in many things, we may be considered to be the least of all. This does not matter God. God wants that we manifest what we have with the whole heart. God wants that we spend our energies, our talents and all that we have for the glory of God and for the well being of the other. It is the quality of life that God wants from us, not the quantity of life. The two widow are the encourging examples for us to imbibe this attitude. - Life of thanksgiving is required of us: We should not hide anything for ourselves. In reality, Christian life is not for its own sake. Christians are not themselves. Their presence and their power is for the upliftment of the world. Their word and their deed is for the manifestation of their solidarity and love to the needy. True thanksgiving consists in this. What is Eucharist in which we participate now? It is an act of thankgiving. Jesus gives thanks to the Father for the love he revealed to the world through him. Jesus gives thanks not with the prayers and formulas alone. His ultimate thanksgiving is revealed in His Self-Offering, His Body and Blood, on the Cross two thousand years back and under the form of bread and wine now infront of our eyes. Such a kind of thanksgiving is the true charity that God demands from us. Let us learn from the act of Jesus to give ourselves in totality to God and to our fellow beings. Infact, this is an act of love: love of God and love of the neighbor.

THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: (Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Heb 7:23-28; Mark 12:28b-34) Theme: When we love, we are not far away from the kingdom of God Reflection: Love is the Only Virtue that empowers life - We are called to enter into the dimension of love: Today, the Church is admonishing us to enter into the dimension of love. Love appears as a small and a sweet word. But it’s depth, its height, its width and its fullness reach beyond the human measure. Some time back we have already noted on this aspect of love. We said that when ever we talk of love, the only possible starting point is from above: the divine love. God is love and His love permeates the whole universe. Every single creature has its origin from this love and has its destiny to this love. Every being, alive and active, manifests God’s love to the world. God cannot exists outside love. Man has no life without love. Love is a knot between God and the human being. All other elements anywhere in the world are in connection with the love and from this love they recharge their power. In a single word, we can say that love is the only virtue which empowers life: both divine and human life. - God himself is the Essence of Love: Our God, according to our Christian faith, is the God of the Trinity. He is a God in Three Persons: Three Persons very intimately interlinked with the bond of love. The intimate relationship of love between them is so deep that any One of them cannot exist and does not will to exist without the other two. This is the true and authentic bond of love. How it could be possible that there are Three Persons but at the same time exist as One God is the question of the Christian Mystery. Above all the researches being made for the solution for the question there is one thing that is crystal clear. It is this: in love there is the unity of not only body and spirit but entire nature of the persons. It is with the essence of love that our God exists as the Trinity. Therefore, it is God who is the foundation and the fountain of love. We have the rays of love only from his divine nature. His divine nature is given to man in the time of creation: God created man in his image and likeness (Gen 2:18). It is in this act of creation that God, by sharing his divine nature, injected into man also the essence of love. Man is called into existence and destined to live only with this divine love. Infact, he is given this possibility when he is created very different from other creatures: his uniqueness is the love which he is endowed with. God goes out of himself and reaches to the other in the form of love. Therefore, love is not something which is fixed essence for itself. It is to reach out. It is to go out. It is to touch the partner. God touched man as his partner of love. - Love is a movement Outwards: Love is never and cannot be for its own sake. If it is so it is not true love. Love is a movement which goes out and touches the other. It’s very nature is to be contageous. God cannot hide his love but to share it within the bond of trinitarian relationship. His love is so immense that it moves outwards of himself: it reaches to man. God loved so much that world that he has sent His Only Son to save it from the pit of non-love. Man is created for love and in view of love. He has soon forgotten his nature of loving and being loved. He has chosen the way of pride and selfishness. He started closing himself from God and this is first sin. Sin, which is priorily a rejection of love of God, made him a stranger to God and kept him away from God. Love is something that goes out and reaches the other. But with the arrogance and avarice of man the movement took an “U” turn. The aspect of love is turned into an occasion of self-glory. Man has built the wall between himself and God and between himself and the neighbor. Even in this pathetic condition of man and even when man has been rejecting his love, God did not keep himself away from loving man. Love cannot draw itself aback when something raises against it. Instead, love faces every hurdle with patience and forgiveness. Then only it is love. God always loves. Man often responds to it with the tendency of personal freedom and prestige. God comes out of himself and reaches the other. Man instead closes within himself without being disturbed by the other. With the movement of God towards man and with the movement of man towards himself, there is a cross movement. God draws the line of love and man wipes it with the line of pride. This is the cross: one wills and the other rejects. - Cross – The Sign of Love: The cross movement that took place between the love of God and the wilful negligence of man is set right and modified. The cross movement is restored by Jesus. He balances both poles/beams by assuming into himself both the love for God and love for man. It is infact with the view of the cross that He, being God, has take the human form. Finally, on the cross and in the death, He brings down once again God’s love to man and man’s love to the fellow men. Thus, Jesus Christ becomes the personification of love and His Cross becomes the Sign of love. Suffering and sacrifice, then, become no more a condition of helplessness but a means of love. The man who has closed into himself has given the possibility of making again “Big U” turn which leads him towards God and towards his neighbor. Therefore, human life is re-empowered by the virtue of love. And man does not remain a mere creature but becomes a being of love. Readings: Indissoluble Unity between God’s love and Human love - Love of God is essential (first reading): The reading taken from the Book of Deuteronomy presents to us the Act of Faith of the people of Israel. God gives them the Ten Commandments through Moses. Moses once again proclaims to the people the essential element of their life: to love God. His words are very clear: “Listen, Israel: the Lord is our God, the Only Lord. You will love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength” (Dt 6:4-5). This is the primary and the only thing that every Israel has to do: loving the Lord, his God. - The question of the Scribe (the Gospel): The gospel presents to us one of scribes who comes to ask Jesus, “what is the first of all the commandments?”. This question becomes the starting point for the synthesis of while human existence. There can be many other complimentary quetions with this: what is the most important thing in life? What is the fundamental orientation of our words and actions? What is that which occupies our life most? Who is God and how much we allow him to act in our situations? How much space we leave for God in our hearts? What is driving force in our relationship with others? All these question arise from One Basic Question: what is priority of our life? With the posing of this question, the Scribe opens wide the whole question of our human life and love. His question is so effective that if one knows answer for this question, he can easily find answer for any other question. This is the first question that has to be asked and the last question that can be asked by anyone, anywhere and anytime. The whole human life depends on answering this question. If proper answer is found, human life finds its proper meaning and significance. Or else, it fails in its being human and becomes either inhuman or violent as animal life. The question is posed to the right person and Jesus answers to it in the only way possible: the way of love. Such a deep question and the answer that Jesus provides demand our attention today. - Love of God and Love of Neighbor (the Gospel): Jesus does not hesitate to give an answer to the Scribe. The question is about what is the first of all. Jesus replies immediately with what is first and what is second. He says that the first is to love God and the second is to love one’s neighbor. The attitude of Jesus is important and has to be comprehended well. He did not wait for the Scribe to ask what is the second of all the commandments. He did not even a gap and a brief lecture before proclaiming which is the second. He replies instantly with the love of God and love of neighbor. He never wanted to see the both commandments to be separated. Infact, for him there never exists any division between them. God’s love flows into human love and human love is perfected and fulfilled only in God’s love. He calls for the intimate relationship between the first and the second: between loving God and loving the fellow beings. - Indissolible Unity between the love God and love of neighbor: Jesus brings about this unity in two phrases. o First, he indicates the link between the Old and New Testaments. He answers not with something outside but with something that already exists in the Law that God, His Father, has given to the people of Israel. Jesus quotes the first commandment as it is (v. 29). He does not change even a single letter. It signifies that he has not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them (Math 5:17ff). He does not see the seperation between the Old Law and New Law. For him both are equally important because what is Old find its fulfillment in the New and what is New is already prefigured and preannounced in the Old. o Second, he links the love of God with the love of neighbor. He himself becomes the knot between the two movements of love. He is the Central Figure and the Synthesis in whom both the love of God and the love of man find their existence fully and perfectly. Infact, He is the Ultimate Testimony of this love. His love for God is so immence that He obeys him even to the death. His love for man is so great that He offers His Body and Blood on the cross. He was never for himself even for a single moment. He is always for the Father in the Spirit and for the world in the act of sanctification. His movement is always outwards. His life is always outreaching. Therefore, He manifests by his person and proclaims by his word that there is unseparable unity between the love of God and the love of neighbor. Conclusion: We are inside the kingdom of God if only we love - To Be in relation with God in prayer: We are invited first of all to be the testimonies of the contemplation. We need to recognize God’s presence within us. We need to profess our faith in Him with unconditional and uncompromised attitude. This is what the Scribe in the Gospel has done and the People of Israel are asked to testify. It is only by being with Jesus we can know where we are and what we are doing. It is only by an interaction with him that we enter into the deeper meaning of life. Prayer leads us to the faith and faith leads us to the knowledge and knowledge leads us to the love. Our christian joureny initiates with the prayer and ends with the love. - To Be in relation with the other in act: Our rapport with God in prayer and in faith guide us to the point of offering our entire existence for the well being of the other and for the meaninful development of the world. In prayer we raise our hands to God in praise and thanksgiving. In action we extend our hands to the needy. Love for God is expressed in our Charitable presence to the other. God’s love flows into us and through us to the others. We need to be mindful of this truth always. Like the scribe in the gosple we need to believe and affim the teaching of Jesus: You have said well, Master, and according to the truth – to love God and to love the neighbor surpass all other norms of life (v. 32ff). In prayer we go towards God and in act we go towards the other and thus it becomes a movement outwards: a gesture of love. - If we love we are not far away from the kingdom of God: We know what is love and we know how to love. Enough to see and meditate the Cross and the Eucharist and we understand the nature of love. We do not need any more philosophy, sociology, science, technology and even theology. We need only one thing to do: to open the closed doors of our life. Love is not just a feeling but a concrete act. We need to place our existence wide open before God and before the others and our love is manifested in the right manner. This is the love that Jesus is expecting us to live out. This is the love that Jesus is inviting us to pour out. If we have such love, which reaches outwards to God and to our fellow beings, then we are not away from reign of God. We need to hear those words from Jesus: you are not distant from the kingdom of God. We need to proclaim to the other the same words: you are not distant from my life. Are we ready to manifest such a profound love and thus become part of the Christ’s Banquet of love? Let us try to answer it before we receive him into our hearts.