Saturday, 5 September 2026
Sunday, September 6, 2026 - Together, Not alone
To read the texts click on the texts: Ezek33:7-9;Rom13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20
As
a child in school I learnt a poem which had great rhyme and meter and which when
recited aloud with actions that accompanied it sounded good to the ear. It went
like this:
I
had a little tea party
This
afternoon at three
It
was very small
Three
guests in all
Just
I, myself and me.
Myself
ate up all the sandwiches
While
I drank up the tea
It
was also "I" who ate the pie
And
passed the cakes to me.
It
was only many years later that I realized that it was one of the most selfish
poems that one could recite. The focus in the poem was on one individual and
one individual alone; I, myself and Me. This is surely not the Christian way of
proceeding. In Christianity we are individuals but in and within a community.
In
the Bible we come across certain passages that are as relevant and practical in
our lives today as they were thousands of years ago when they were first
written. Today’s readings are good examples of such passages. Together they
reminds us that as faithful Christians it is our responsibility to reach out to
the errant members of the community and bring them back into the fold.
Christianity, is both an individual and communitarian religion and every one of
us are our brother’s and sister’s keepers. They even go on to recommend
practical steps on how to go about doing this. They invite us to review our
‘I-don’t-care’ attitude toward fallen and lax members of the Church, reminding
us that it is our business to reach out to them.
As
members of the Church, we are not just a priestly people who offer sacrifice;
we are also a prophetic people, which means that we are God’s spokespersons. We
speak on behalf of God. Today’s first reading is, in fact, a compact job
description that God gave to the prophet Ezekiel on what it means to be a
prophetic person. As sentinel or watchman, Ezekiel places himself as an
intermediary between God and the people. He realizes that it is his
responsibility as a member of the community to ensure that all in the community
are saved from sin. He cannot be merely content with his own salvation. He must
do whatever it takes to bring those who stray back to the fold.
The
Gospel text from Matthew deals with discipline, reconciliation and the presence
of the Lord. This text is part of the fourth discourse in the Gospel commonly
known as the “Community Discourse”. The concern in these verses is with
community or congregational life and not primarily about personal relations.
Like Ezekiel, every Christian is also called to be concerned about other
members of the community, since ours is a faith of a community and never of
merely individuals. We act together, so we can help one another and so we can
work to God’s name, thereby multiplying our resources and ability to do what
God calls us to do. Our community is the lifeline to the experience of God and
an example of the power of God moving among God’s people.
The
procedures that Matthew suggests for bringing back an errant member of the
community may seem stringent. However, when we realize that the point is one of
radical care and concern and not self righteousness or vindictiveness, then
they take on a new meaning. The errant member, the leaders of the community and
the community are all protected from arbitrariness and self-centered actions.
While
a private spiritual and prayer life is essential for each of us and we need to
spend time alone with God, it is likely to become dry and turn inward, if it is
not infused with regular doses of shared worship and prayer with others,
gathered in the Lord’s name. The gathering together also signifies how
important we are to each other and how much we depend on each other. Through
our link to one another through Christ, there is a power in our community,
uniting the values of God to our values on earth. This is how Jesus enables us
to use God’s power for healing and life-giving love effectively among God’s people.We
come together, we stay together, we work together in our Lord’s name, bringing
to focus the presence of God and unleashing the power of the Spirit to
transform our lives and the lives of all God’s children.
In
the second reading of today Paul, speaking in a similar vein, challenges the
community at Rome to show their love for one another in action. It is love
which characterizes the Christian community and it is love which will sustain
and nourish it. This love must also show itself as a commitment to justice – a
love that never does any wrong to anyone. To be Christian thus means to be one
who not only loves, but also one led by love to reach out to anyone who is in
need. It is to be conscious of the fact that even if one member of the
community does not feel part of the community, the community is not whole.
Friday, 4 September 2026
Saturday, September 5, 2026 - How often have you made rules and regulations ends in themselves?
To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Cor 4:6-15; Lk 6:1-5
The
episode is a Sabbath controversy, and is found also in Mark 2,23-28 and Matthew
12,1-8. Since Deut 23,24-25 allowed a person passing a neighbour’s field to
pluck heads of grain with the hand, this does not seem to be the reason for the
complaint of the Pharisees. Luke (6,1) alone states that the disciples were
rubbing the heads of grain in their hands, which could be interpreted as
threshing, and threshing was one of the forms of work forbidden on the Sabbath.
In his response, Jesus refers to the incident from 1 Samuel 21,1-6 in which
David confronted Ahimelech at Nob. The point that the Lucan Jesus makes is that
if David had the authority to overturn Levitical rules and eat the bread of the
Presence and even give it to his companions, because he gave priority to human
need over ritual observance, so can Jesus, who is Lord of the Sabbath.
Rules
and regulations are made so that there might be order in society and each will
know his/her role. It is possible that sometimes they might become ends in
themselves and take precedence over everything else. They can never take
precedence over human need. All rules and regulations are at the service of
humans and not the other way around.
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Friday, September 4, 2026 - Are you afraid of change? Why?
To read the texts click on the texts:1 Cor 4:1-5; Lk 5:33-39
In
Luke, this episode about fasting continues from the previous one (5,27-32) in
which after the call of Levi (5,27-28), Jesus eats in Levi’s house along with
tax collectors and others. This table fellowship leads the Pharisees to murmur.
Jesus responds with a common proverb about only the sick needing a physician
and then emphasises that he has come to call not the righteous but sinners to
repentance (5, 31 – 32). Luke omits Mark’s introduction, which informs us that
John’s disciples’ and the Pharisees were fasting, and thus allows the
conversation of the previous scene to continue. In response to the comment that
John’s disciples like those of the Pharisees fast and pray, Jesus responds with
a metaphor of a wedding feast and the inappropriateness of the guests fasting
while the wedding is in process and the bridegroom is with them. While in Mark
the new or unshrunk cloth is sought to be sewn onto an old garment; in Luke the
cloth is first torn from a new garment and then sought to be put onto an old
garment. In Luke the destructive effect of tearing the new garment is
highlighted. Lk 5,39 is exclusive to Luke and brings out the closed attitude of
those who do not want the new. They prefer to stick to the old because they
feel comfortable with it and are not willing to change or see things from a new
perspective. They insist that the old is good.
It
is not always easy to accept change. We prefer to do things the old way and
feel comfortable when things remain the same. We must realise that the only
thing that is permanent is change and we must get used to it. While we need not
change just for the sake of changing, we must be open and receptive to change
and be ready to change when we have to.
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Thursday, September 3, 2026 - What do you think Jesus is calling you to today? Will you answer his call?
To read the texts click on the texts: 1Cor 3:18-23; Lk 5:1-11
The
call of the first disciples in the Gospel of Luke is different from the other
Synoptic Gospels. While in Matthew and Mark Jesus calls to them when he was
passing by the Sea of Galilee, here he is in Simon’s boat. While there are
similarities between this account in Luke and the account of the miraculous
catch in John 21, 1-4, there are also differences. The most striking difference
is that Luke uses the story here as the setting for Simon’s call to follow
Jesus, whereas John uses it to show that Peter was reconciled with the risen
Jesus after having denied him. While in John, Jesus is not in the boat but on
the shore, here in Luke he is in the boat. In John there is only one boat, that
in which the disciples are, here there are many boats. The nets in Luke are
beginning to break, but John explicitly mentions that despite the large haul,
the nets did not break.
The
point that Luke seems to make is that following Jesus on his way will entail a
completely different life style, will call for a different set of priorities.
Where Simon and the others were focusing on fish (material, temporary, passing
things), Jesus calls them to focus on people (spiritual, permanent, things that
last).
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Wednesday, September 2, 2026 - Will you find the time today, “to be”, so that “your doing” will be more efficacious? How?
To read the texts click on the texts:1Cor 3:1-9; Lk 4:38-44
he
reading of today allows us to encounter a Jesus who was busy day and night
“doing” and yet a Jesus who would manage to find the time “to be”.
The
first of the three scenes that form part of this section deals with the healing
of Peter’s mother-in-law. Since in Luke this healing takes place before the
call of the first disciples, he does not mention Andrew, James and John as Mark
does (Mk 1,29). He also probably uses this healing to prepare for the call of
Peter, which he narrates in 5,1-11.
In
the second scene, Luke depicts a Jesus who would heal people at all times of
the day or night. While the demons use the title “Son of God” to identify
Jesus, Luke himself informs the readers that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ.
Luke seems to have taken the silencing function from Mark because it is not
clear in his Gospel as it is in Mark, why Jesus would not allow the demons to
speak.
In
the third and final scene of this section, Luke portrays a Jesus who would find
time to commune with his Father. He portrays a man of action and yet a man of
prayer, though he does not explicitly state here that Jesus prayed. Though the
crowds want to prevent Jesus from leaving, Jesus is clear that he must go on to
other places as well, for the kingdom belongs to all.
This
Jesus is the one who challenges us today to be men and women who derive our
strength “to do” from “the one who is and will always be”.
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