First Advent

KEEP AWAKE

Today we celebrate a new liturgical season called Advent. Advent means coming or arrival. During this season we wait for the coming of the Lord. Yes, the Lord is coming and let us keep awake. Once a man was sleeping and he had a terrible…terrible dream. A lion was chasing him and while he was running, there came a tiger, running towards him and he was surrounded by so many ferocious animals and what should he do to escape from those ferocious animals? All he has to do is just awake up.

Today’s gospel invites us to keep awake because the Lord is coming. The Lord is not away to come back but the day will come, everybody can see Him with his or her naked eye. Faithful or unfaithful; good or bad and everyone will see Him as He is.

And so many people today struggle to recognize the presence of god in their midst. And so many people today struggle to keep awake themselves for the coming of the Lord. Once a man went to a barber shop and while the barber was cutting his hair and was trimming his beard, began to talk to him many things and at one point, there came a talk about God, the man said, “I don’t believe that God exists”. The man asked why. Because there are so many people today suffering from disease. And people are unhappy. If god exists there will be no suffering or pain in the world. The man did not want to argue with the barber because he had a big razor and a knife. When the man came out of the barber shop saw a man with dirty close with untrimmed beard and long uncut hair. Then he went back to the barber shop and said to the barber, “I don’t think barbers exist” the barber said, “I just now worked on you and how can you say barbers do not exist” look at outside, there is a man with untrimmed beard and uncut hair and the barber said, because he is not coming to the barber. The man looked at him and said, “exactly… god exists and people do not go to him when people go to God, there will be no sickness or pain or struggle in the world. When we recognize the presence of the Lord, then there will be no unhappiness and all we have to do is keep awake.

Once there was a famous prince who never went out of his palace. He was well protected in his palace but he always wanted to know what was outside of his palace and one night without the king’s knowledge, he escaped the palace and went into the city. He first met with an old man, he was surprised to see an old man and asked people why he was looking like that and people said, “we are all going to be old one day. It is a natural process of life” and then he met with a sick person and he was told people would get sick and it was part of life. Then the prince saw four people carrying a dead person and he asked what was going on, people said that every one has to die one day and this was not our permanent home. And then he saw a spiritual guru meditating under a tree. He asked people what he was doing and they said, “he was a spiritual man who helped people to find god” and then the prince left his kingship permanently and became a monk doing good for people and helping people to be awake. And his followers called him, “Buddha” means one who was awakened or illuminated.

Keep awake means loving god and listening to his words. Keep awake means helping others. And once a man went to a rabbi and said, “Rabbi, I want to be happy but all I do is fighting with my wife. What should I do? The rabbi said, “go home and for a month listen to everything she says” and after a month he came back and said, “I listen to everything she says” The rabbi looked at him and said, “now go home and listen to everything that she is not saying”.

Let us keep awake and prepare ourselves to welcome the lord into our homes, our work places and our lives and thus let us celebrate a meaningful and family Christmas this year also. Amen.

Thirty-three sunday in year A

Story of our talents

In today’s gospel, Jesus invites us to thank god for the gifts and talents that we received from him and multiply them for the glory of God through Christ our Lord.

Once a protestant minister, an Anglican pastor and a catholic priest met each other and they were talking about bats problem in their churches. The protestant minister said, “I think I have only one talent because I have bats problem in my church and I tried my best to chase them away but I could not do anything”. Then the Anglican pastor said, “I think I have only two talents because I have bats problem in my church too and I take them out of city and throw them but they keep coming and I do not know what to do” then they looked at the catholic priest and said, “we know you have bats problem in your church too” then the catholic priest said, “because of my five talents, I chased all the bats away from my church and I do not have any problem at all and they asked, “what did you do and how did you do it?” he looked at them and said, “I baptized all and they never came back”.

Today let us look at the talents that we have and develop them for the glory of god. No body can say that he does not have any talents or gifts. We are all special and unique in the sight of God and we are called in a special way to live our life praising and thanking God for our very human life.
When God called Moses to save the chosen people, he looked at god and said, “god I am a sinner and I do not know how to talk or lead people”. God smiled at him and said, “you are not going to do anything but through you, I am going to act and just be my instrument”. we sometimes may feel small and meaningless and at the same time, God who created the world out of nothing will and can make us strong and meaningful. All we have to do is just know the love and kindness of God our father through our every day life.

And knowing our human nature itself is a gift and talent. When we love and forgive others from our heart, then we may say that we begin to know the gift of God in our lives; and when we accept others with their conditions, then we may say that we begin to know the god-given talents in us.

Once a rabbi was walking along a lakeshore and saw a small insect struggling to get out of the water, so he took the insect out of the water and put it on the shore but the insect bit him and again jumped in the water and it began to struggle to get out of the water, and the rabbi again did the same. It went on and on, then a man came to the rabbi and said, “why do you want to help the insect that keeps on biting you”, then the Rabbi looked at him and said, “the nature of the insect is biting but the nature of human is helping”. when we help others in their need, then we may hear from the Lord saying, “well done good and trustworthy slave and you have been trustworthy in few things and I will put you in charge of many things”.

We are today asked to develop our talents and gifts because the Lord is coming. Yes, he may come at an unexpected time. He may come like a thief. About three years ago, when I was in a country parish, one day the house was broken into, and then on, I was kind of afraid to be alone in the rectory and one day, I called one of my friends and said about my problem and he said, “as long as you do not smile, no body can find you”
But let us keep on smiling, the Lord is coming, yes; he is coming to bless us with everlasting life. Amen.

30th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME-A

The golden commandments

In today’s gospel, Jesus gives us the golden commandments saying , ‘love god with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself’.
What about the ten commandments? If we keep these two commandments, then it is easier to keep all other commandments.

Once a mother’s three sons decided to something big for their mother and let her know that they love her so much. So the first son bought a beautiful house and the second son bought a big expensive car and a third son presented her with a parrot that could recite the whole bible.
Some days later, they all got a letter from their mom. For the first son, she said, “son , thank you for your love and since I am living alone, I can’t live in the big house . Please keep the house”. And for the second son, she said, “Son, I am getting old and I am not driving anymore and you may keep the expensive car“. Then she wrote the third son who gave her a parrot that can recite the whole bible, “son, thank you for your love and I love your present and you are the only son who know what the mother wants and by the way… the bird was delicious”.

Why should we love God? Because we belong to Him and He is our Father. We may go away from him like the prodigal son but when we come back, he is not going to say “no” to us but instead he will shower us with love and kindness. That is our God.

The Muslims pray to God five times a day and the Hindus p ray to God three times a day and Buddhists pray to God morning and evening and what about we who follow Jesus, we should make our whole life a prayer, and come to know that we belong to Him.

Once a mother said to her son who did not want to go to church. “son, I have three reasons to ask you to go to church. The first one is that all our ancestors practiced their faith and went to church so you should go to church and the second reason is your dad and I go to church, your siblings are going to church and you should too. The son who was annoyed at that asked what was the third reason, the mother looked at him and said, “you should go to church because you are the pastor of the church”

Dear friends, every time we come to church, we get closer to god and begin to know the love and kindness of god and we will become the god we believe, yes, we will love him totally.
Jesus asks us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Once Genie appeared to a man and said, “ask me anything you want and I will give you but with one condition, your neighbour will get twice as much, yes it will be doubled and what you want?” the man thought for a second and said, “Just beat me to half dead”.

It is very hard to love others. Once a man said, “I love humanity but hate individuals”. But Christianity is about prodigal sons and good Samaritans. We are social beings and we are called to realize Jesus’ love and forgiveness through others. Only by loving others, we can complete our Christian call.

Once a rabbi visited a Catholic monastery and while he was staying there, the head monk said to him, “ every body keeps leaving the monastery and people who used to come here for Mass are not coming anymore and we do not know what to do. We have only five monks are left here”. The rabbi listened to him and before he was leaving, he called the five monks together and said, “ by the way, I had a vision yesterday and there is a Messiah living among you and one of you is that Messiah”. when they heard that one of them was the Messiah, their approach towards each other changed. they began to respect others thinking he would be the Messiah and as well they treated themselves well thinking they would be the Messiah and thus things changed so fast. Many men joined the monastery wanting to become monks and people who stopped coming to the monastery began to come there. Yes, where there is love, there is God.

When we begin to respect and love others as though they were the Messiah, then the world will become a beautiful place to live. Let us keep the golden commandments of Christ by loving God and neighbour. Amen.

29th sunday in ordinary time-A

Let us leave behind what belongs to Caesar and take with us what belongs to God.

In today’s gospel, Jesus talks about every day things that we all face or deal with. We all struggle with worldly and divine things. Some times, we get attached with material things so much and other times vice versa. We, some times, struggle to balance ourselves with both worlds.
Once a man won million dollars in lottery and when his family that first came to know about that was so happy and at the same time, they were so afraid to let him know because he had a heart condition. So they called the parish priest and explained the situation. The priest said, ‘no problem, just bring him here and I will let him know and he would be fine”. So the family brought the man to the priest and the priest began to talk to him. The priest said, “Joe, If you , I suppose win million dollars, what would you do?”
Joe looked at the priest and said, “O Father, If I win million dollars, I will give half a million to the Church”. then the priest took a heart attack and died.
The question today is how are we going to balance ourselves by using the material things to get closer to God? By accumulating unnecessary things, we bind ourselves here and forget the love and kindness of god. We refuse to experience the kingdom of God.


Once a man visited a famous Rabbi. The man looked at the Rabbi’s house and was surprised because there were not many things just some books and a table and a chair. The man asked the Rabbi, “Rabbi, where are your furniture?” Then the Rabbi looked at him and said, “where are your furniture?” “I am just a visitor here--the man said. Then the Rabbi once again looked at him and said, “So am I my friend”.
Yes, we are all just visitors here and this is not our permanent home. As faithful people, we should know how to treasure things in heaven where they will multiply as hundreds.
In today’s gospel, Jesus says, ‘give it to Caesar what belongs to him and to God what is His. Yes, we should leave behind what belongs here. If material things help us to know god’s love and kindness, they may bring happiness and joy in one’s life, if not they can bring more stress and unhappiness. Material things can even destroy a person’s health and future.
Once a rich man from the north came to down south. While he was walking on a beautiful beach, saw a man resting by his boat. The rich man looked at him and asked, “how come you did not go fishing today?” I got enough fish for the day. Don’t ever say that you got enough, you should have got more.

The man asked, “what will I do then?” “you can make more money and then you can buy big motor boat with big engines and thus you can go into deep water and catch a lot of fish and make more money” The man asked, “then what will I do?” You will become so rich like me and then, o then you can go for holidays like me and enjoy on this beach. The man looked at the rich man and said, “ what are you thinking that I am doing right now?”.
When we know how to leave behind to this world, we come to know the secret of God. We come to know our image and likeness that is god. In today’s gospel, the Pharisees who condemned Jesus call him as just and good teacher. They say that Jesus never shows partiality and does everything right. And we should try to find that Just god in our life. It is easy to lose god in our material world.
Once a man was searching something under a bright light of a hydro pole. His friend who came that side asked, “what are you looking for?” “I have lost my key” so he too joined him and they began to look for the key and a hour later the friend looked at him and said, “where did you lose your key?” o lost it at home and then why are you searching here? “because it is brighter here”
Search god where you have lost him. We should learn to give what belongs to God. Do you know what belong to God? We belong to God. Let us learn to give god ourselves fully and completely to him alone. Amen.

Respect life Sunday

Respect life Sunday

Today our Catholic Church invites us to celebrate life and respect it with all possible ways. Life is a gift that is given to us all. When god created living things, he was not satisfied fully with them and at last as culmination of all life, he created human beings with his own image and likeness. Anyone who destroys life is an enemy of life and of all living beings.
Once a priest asked his congregation, “is there anyone here who does not have any enemy?” and no body answered and then again he said, “if you do not have any enemy, please raise your hand and I am going to let you pick three hymns for today’s celebration” and then an eighty-year old lady raised her hand. The priest invited her to the front and introduced to the congregation saying , “even Jesus had enemies and we are happy that you do not have any enemy and please tell us how. The lady proudly looked at the crowd and said, because I outlived all my stupid enemies. Then the priest looked at her and said, “do you want to pick three hymns today?” she was so happy and said, “yes, I will and then she looked at the congregation and said, “him..him..and him.”
Now you know why only the choir is allowed to choose the hymns.
Life is sacred and it should be protected from conception to natural death. Since it is a gift of god, no one has the right to take anyone’s life away for any reason. We who come to church and we who practice our faith know the important of life and living.
Information is knowledge and today we have so much information about life and its value. I have met mothers and fathers who said that they did not give much thought about anti-abortion those days and today we often hear about pro life. There are so many religious and non-religious movements that promote life and give us enough information to know the value of protecting life. No one can say that he or she does not know about pro-life and the god-given gift of life.
The bible contains god’s words and in the bible, god says that he knows us before we were born and he called us when we were in our mother’s womb. Once the children asked his parents, “mom, there is a commandment that says honour your father and mother and is there any commandment for siblings.
Their mother looked at them and said, “yes of course, “thou shalt not kill”
When we have faith in God our father through his son Jesus, then it is our duty to protect life. Faith in god opens our eyes wider to see the goodness in everything. It helps to differentiate things. Once a lady, every time came out of her house used to say, “praise the Lord, bless the Lord” and the next door neighbour who did not believe in god used to scream, “there is no god” and it went on and on. And one day, the lady stood at the entrance of the house and prayed aloud to god and said, “god… please bring me some grocery for tomorrow”
And the next day, she saw a big bag of grocery waiting at the door and she thanked god saying, ‘ thank you god for the grocery” and the neighbour who was hiding himself behind the bush came out and said, “I brought the grocery for you and there is no God” and this time she prayed to god saying, “god, thank you very much for the grocery and thank you very much for making the devil pay for it’
Even in today’s gospel, we heard Jesus saying that there will always people against life and living and they will constantly try to destroy and encourage others to do so. And Jesus says that the kingdom of god will be taken away from those people and be given to those who produce much fruit and as we celebrate respect life Sunday, let us actively participate to protect life and say no to abortion and all other ways that destroy life. Amen.

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN YEAR A

GOD IS BOTH JUST AND MERCIFUL

Christianity is not about a certain belief or a dogma. It is all about a living person. As Christians, we follow Jesus a living and loving person. He is with us now and forever. He teaches us the loving kindness, forgiveness of God our Father. He came to bring us the Good News.

Once a surgeon (doctor) who came out of an operation theatre said to the family that was eagerly waiting for, “I have a good news and a bad news and which one do you want to hear first?”
And the family said, “we want to hear the good news”. “The good news is that the operation went really well. Even though this is my first operation, it went well.” and they all thanked him for his wonderful job and they asked him, “doctor, what is the bad news?” The doctor said, “The bad news is that the patient is dead”.
In Christianity, Jesus brings us only good news. Yes, the good news is that we all belong to all our father and we are all treated equally in His kingdom.

In today’s gospel, we come to now that God is both just and merciful. He is slow to anger and ready to forgive. His love and forgiveness surpass everything.
He is a just god. We will be judged according to our actions and there will be no partiality.
Once a teenage boy who was standing in front of the judge was asked, “do you agree that you drove more than the posted limit. You drove forty kilometres more than the posted limit?” And the boy agreed and then you will be fined $600.00 or three months in prison and the boy agreed to pay the six hundred dollars. Then there happened an unexpected thing, the judge one who gave the judgement of paying six hundred dollars, got out of the chair and took off his judge garment and went over to the clerk and paid the six hundred dollars on behalf of the teenager. Yes, the judge was the father of the teenager. Even though, he was the dad, he gave the right judgement.
Our God is a just judge and he judges all according to our actions and doings. In today’s gospel, we meet with the owner of the vineyard who was just with all his labourers. He pays them as they agreed upon. But some of the labourers are not happy not because he was just but because he was generous and merciful with others. In the gospels, Jesus speaks about last judgement that will take place according to our actions. When we do good, we will be given life-everlasting.

And at the same time, our god is full of mercy and compassion. He is a merciful god. Once there lived a holy man and across from his house lived a woman who was leading an immoral life. every time the holy man saw that woman, he thought to himself, “she is a prostitute and she will surely be punished and be given eternal punishment for her actions. And one day the woman died and some years later, the holy man also died and he went to heaven where upon seeing the woman enjoying life everlasting, was shocked and was mad at god. Then he asked God, “god, from the beginning… I was doing everything well. I prayed, fasted and observed all the spiritual rituals and on the other hand, she did nothing but lived a low life. How come she is here in heaven with me? And God looked at him and said, “Son, you are here because of your good works and she is here because of my compassion and love. She at the last moment of her life asked my forgiveness and love. Am I not allowed to do what I want to do?

Yes, god is both just and merciful. He loves both sinners and holy, poor and rich, big or small. God let his rain come down on both good and bad, he let his sun shine on both good and bad.
And if we get closer to him, we will come to know that he has only good news and He is just and merciful.

Once a doctor who did a knee operation said to the patient, ’I have a good news and a bad news for you”. what is the good news doctor? Asked the patient. The good news is the operation went well and the bad news is I did it on the wrong knee”

Let us focus on the good news of Christ and get closer to him everyday by our love and kindness towards our neighbour. Amen.

TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS(Exaltation of the Cross)

The power of the Cross

Today we celebrate the feast of the exaltation of the Cross. After dying on the Cross, Jesus made the Cross Holy. And today all people bow before the Cross.

Once a man by climbing in a tall coconut tree, refused to come down. First the police came and pleaded with him to come down, but nothing happened. Then the firefighters came and they tried their best to bring him down but he refused. Then at last, a catholic priest was asked to help him. The priest came and made a sing of the cross, then the man immediately came down. And everybody praised and worshiped the cross. Then they asked the priest to explain the power of the cross. The priest simply said, "by making the sign of the Cross, I indicated to him, "if you do not come down, I will surely cut the tree down".

Today Snoop Dogg has more crosses on his body than the Holy Father. Without knowing the power of the cross, many people are using the cross for everything. the fashion and the tattoo industries manipulate the usage of the cross today. For example, cross is used as nose, ear and even navel rings.

The very blessing of the sign of the cross has power. when we bless ourselves, we say in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. when we say the word father, we touch our forehead and by touching the forehead, we ask God who is the creator to bless us so that we may think well and good.

Once two Buddhists monks were going to a village to preach and when they came to a river bank, they saw a beautiful woman standing, afraid of crossing the river. And one of the priest helped her by carrying on his shoulder. when they went back to the monastery, the other monk went to everybody and said, "we, monks are not even allowed to look at women but this monk carried her on his shoulder". so the monk who helped her said to him, "I left her on the bank long time ago and why are you still carrying her in your mind?"

Our mind is a powerful weapon that should be trained and disciplined well, if not, we have to face so much challenges. And that is why when we touch our forehead we ask God to bless us and thus we may think divine things and be good to all.

When we say the word son, we touch our heart and ask Jesus to bless us so that we may love everyone as our brother and sister and accept them without any condition.

once a rabbi asked his disciples, "how do you know that the night is gone and the day is here?" And every one came up with different answers. One said, "when you see a tree in distance and if you could say whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree, then you may say that the night is gone and the day is here" then the other said, "when you see an animal in distance and if you could say whether it is a sheep or a goat, then you may say that the night is gone and the day is here". But the Rabbi was not satisfied with their many answers and said, "when you see the face of your own brother or sister in any human being, then you may proudly say that the night is gone and the day is here".

Today we have so many problems in society because we struggle to accept others as our brothers and sisters. So many wars, killings are going on and on because of the difficulty of acceptance. By touching our heart, we ask Jesus to bless us so that we love everyone as our brothers and sisters.

And by saying the word Holy Spirit, we touch our both shoulder and ask the Holy Spirit to bless us so that we may put our faith and love in action. Faith without action is dead.

Once a holy man prayed to God saying, 'God, I am a very faithful person and I am old now and I have to look after my family. Since I do not have money, please let me win a lottery and God said, "yes, you will win a lottery". Months passed and years passed, he never won a lottery and one day out of desperation, the man prayed to God saying,"God, give me a break..." And that night, god appeared to him and said, "you give me a break. if you want to win a lottery, you should at least buy a ticket".

Any one who says, "Lord, Lord, will not enter into the kingdom of God but only those who put their faith into action" says the Lord.

The cross has the power and when we bless ourselves with the sing of the Cross, let us remember to ask God to bless us, ask Jesus to be with us and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us. Amen.

Twenty-third sunday in year A

SIN...FORGIVENESS AND LOVE (Matthew 18:15-20)

Once there was a huge fight among a fifty-dollar bill, a twenty-dollar bill and a dollar. The fifty-dollar bill said, "My boss is the best because he takes me to big malls and where I see nice and beautiful things". And the twenty-dollar bill said, "My master is the best because he takes me to nice restaurants and show places". And the dollar was sad and said, "My master never takes me to big malls or any show place. He only takes me to Church".

Because of arguments and fights, one may sin against another. Sin is something that we do on purpose. Sin is something that we do against God, others and ourselves.

In today's gospel, Jesus says if our brother or sister sins against us, we should first talk to him, if he doesn't listen to us, then with the help of two or three witnesses, we should point out his wrong doings. If he refuses then, we should let the church know. Even if he refuses to listen to the church, then we should let him be a tax-collector or gentile to us.

We may approach this gospel according to our modern times. When our brother or sister does something bad or wrong, we should help him to go to counselling. we should help him for one on one counselling. As we know there are so many methods of counselling available today such as behaviour, talk and psycho-therapy. when he does not do it or he refuses to go to one on one counselling, then we should try with group therapy. For example, it is like alcohol anonymous. He may find somebody with his same condition there and thus he may come out of his struggles and problems. This may help him to find the love and kindness of Jesus the lord. When he does not do group therapy, then we should help him to do some community action or service. By helping the helpless, one may come to know of himself, others and God.

when nothing works, then we have to let him be tax-collector or gentile. Here comes a big difference between society and Christianity. when a person does wrong or goes against the law, then he will be punished and he will be sent to prison or jail. But Jesus tells us to call him tax-collector or gentile. It means we should love the person more and more. yes, we should do like our master. Once, according to the gospels, while Jesus was walking with his apostles, saw a man in a tax booth, counting money, He right away had compassion for him and with love, called him to follow. He immediately left everything behind and followed Jesus Christ. Yes, Matthew the tax collector became one of the apostles and gospel writer. Jesus also had special love for the gentiles. For example, woman at the well. Jesus who gives life-giving water asked her for water.

when we like Jesus love our brothers and sisters who go against us, whatever we bind or loose on earth, will be bound or loosed in heaven. Jesus promises that we may have life-everlasting. We should never hate or abandon our brothers or sisters for their wrong doings instead we should love them more and more like Jesus does. Then we may proudly say that we belong to Christ the Lord. Amen.