Be Holy!

“…as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

The above exhortation by our first Pope (1 Pet 1:15,16) is the exhortation with which I wish to begin my letter to you this month. We, in the Western India region – Pune, Goa, Mumbai -, have just been treated by the Holy Spirit (thank you, Lord) to a spirit-filled visit by Steve Ray, passionately challenging us to love Christ and His Church, founded upon Peter the rock (Mt 16:18) and reminding us of the primacy of Peter and his successors… and the need to love and obey them.

And here is St Peter, in 1Pet 1:15-16, reminding us of our calling… to be holy. We began 2011 by reminding and recommitting ourselves to our sanctification – our City, our community, our families, ourselves. This month too we continue to pray that our lives be built on the rock. As we focus our prayer on ‘building’ on the rock, we also pray this month for the property / housing aspect of our brethren in Mumbai – those homeless and those harassed by land-grabbers, corruption, etc.

So many of our community are losing their sleep, peace, health, time and money in property-related matters; daily in court, often fighting cases against their own ‘blood’. May they seek first the kingdom of the Price of Peace. In our endeavour for holiness, the writer to the Hebrews reminds us to “Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14). May we strive to build our lives on Jesus Christ the rock (1 Cor 10:4).

February is known, especially by the young, as the month of Valentine’s Day. Let us make full use of this month to fall once again in love with Jesus and His Word. Let us this month celebrate VD – not Valentine’s Day, but Verbum Domini, the recently published post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation (note, we began this letter with an exhortation to holiness by our first Pope and the same theme continues by our present one), on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.

Let each of us, to the best extent possible, get hold of a copy of this wonderful ‘love letter’ by our Holy Father and fall more in love with The Word of the Lord (Verbum Domini). The Word of God assures us that “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” (Mt 7:24) May we build the foundation of our families, our careers and our ministries on the rock of the Word of God.

Verbum Domini (#85) specifically refers to marriage and families and states that “the word of God is at the very origin of marriage (Gen 2:24 & Mt 19:4-8)”. It continues, “The great mystery of marriage is the source of the essential responsibility of parents towards their children… Spouses, through a love which is faithful, reciprocal and fruitful, are the first to proclaim God’s word to their children. To this end the Synod urged that every household have its Bible, to be kept in a worthy place and used for reading and prayer.” We pray especially this month for families, even with small kids, to build their relationships on the Word, by re-discovering, sharing and praying the Word, through a variety of traditional as well as creative methods, including lectio divina, imaginative prayer, skits etc.

I conclude with the same words that Pope Benedict XVI concludes Verbum Domini “May every day of our lives be shaped by a renewed encounter with Christ”.