Wedding anniversary

My brothers and sisters in Christ, it is my pleasure to have you here today at this church
for this Wedding Anniversary Mass. Thank you for coming today, as together we publicly
celebrate your committed love for one another for fifty years of marriage.

Jesus is the cornerstone of the truth and fidelity that forms the foundation of your
marriage as well and which empowers you to endure the trials of life, to remain faithful to
one another and to be fruitful in your loving relationship. With this foundation, your
marriage has become, as the Church teaches, the most fundamental living cell of society
through your witness to the depth of God’s love. Today, sadly, there are those who reject
the institution of marriage or seek to define it as something other than the union of a man
and woman meant for unitive and fruitful love. In light of this crisis within contemporary
society, your outward witness is especially needed today. We know that the sacrament of
marriage is the permanent and faithful union between a man and a woman, and is the vital
foundation of a just and stable society. My dear people, what we celebrate today is more
than an anniversary; it is the commitment you made before God many years ago to love each
other and to share this love with others in our families, neighborhoods and communities. It
is a love that gives witness to the same covenant of love that Jesus has with His Body, the
Church.

Today, in the beautiful Gospel from Saint John, we hear Jesus proclaim, "I am the good
shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11).As His brothers and
sisters, we are His flock; and He is our shepherd. When we reflect upon the importance of
sheep in Jesus’ time, we know they were primarily bred for their milk and their wool.
Because of their value to the shepherd, he did not keep an emotional distance from them but
came to love and cherish them, even to know them individually. When the shepherd called,
they came as Jesus said, "I know mine and mine know me" (Jn 10:14). In the image of a
shepherd, we behold the image of Jesus, who is our friend. But He is even more than that—He
is our Savior who loves us each personally and unconditionally.

Jesus also says, "A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.…No one takes it from
me, but I lay it down on my own" (Jn 10: 11, 18). In marriage, spouses are called to lay
down their lives for each other and for the good of their relationship. As Jesus laid down
His life for us, so, too, we must do the same for others. As we recounted on Good Friday,
Jesus submitted to suffering and ultimately to crucifixion. He endured His sacrifice,
knowing that to do so would be to redeem us from our sins, bringing us new life.
Through your perseverance and commitment to each other all these years, my dear friends,
you have demonstrated your willingness to lay down your life for the sake of your spouse.
By being willing to sacrifice for one another, and by the many ways that you have "died to
self" through the years of your marriage, you have indeed served one another and your
family; and you have given a joyful witness to the love of Jesus Christ as the Good
Shepherd of His Church.
Again, my brothers and sisters, I want to say thank you: for your witness to life and to
love; for your clear choice to be faithful to each other and to love your family with all
their strengths and faults; for laying down your lives for each other. You have shown, and
continue to show, our society how important marriage is. How truly crucial it is to support
and defend marriage, a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, as the cornerstone
of a just and peaceful society.

Let us all, then, united in the name of Jesus, thank God for the gift of His presence with
you throughout your marriages. Let us thank Him for the gift of the Holy Family, a model of
self-giving love for all of us in our families. Finally, let us thank God the Father for
the gift of His Son, Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of life and love.
May God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit bless you all today, during this blessed
Christmas season, and for all the days of your life. Amen.

Holy Family

HOLY FAMILY

Today we celebrate the feast of Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Every one played their part well and good in the holy family.

we meet Joseph as a protector of the holy family:
Once a group of school children went to see the pacific ocean for the first time. They were all amazed at the vastness of the ocean and when they came back to school the next day, they shared their experience with their other friends who haven't seen an ocean. They said, "on one can cross the ocean swimming... it is so huge" then one of the boys who never saw an ocean, came up and said, "don't say that no one can cross the ocean swimming. My dad can do anything and he can do it"
Children look up to their parents. They believe in their parents to do great things. they believe that their parents would never fail.
The bible says that St. Joseph was a pious man. He obeyed the will of God and did everything well and thus God chose him to be the foster father of Jesus.And Jesus the only son of God obeyed Joseph and thus grew in wisdom and knowledge.

we then meet Mary the mother of Jesus:
once a man shared a story about his mother saying," when I was small, I used to dislike my mother because all my friends' mothers looked so beautiful but my mother had one side of her face burned. And one day I asked her, "mom... what happened to your face. she looked into my eyes and said, "son... when you were two year old, our house was on fire and while i saved you, one side of my face got burned". That day onwards my mother looked more beautiful than anyone else in the world".
mother means sacrifice. And the bible says when mary accepted the will God, then she completely offered herself to do everything for Jesus. Under her protection and love, Jesus grew in wisdom and knowledge and was found in favour with God and man.

we in the holy family meet with Jesus:
A family becomes holy only because of Jesus. A family has meaning and values because of the love and kindness of Jesus our lord.
There is an old monastic story about the sending of the Son into the world. Before sending His son into the world, God sent his angels to find out the pressing needs of the people. Then the angels reported to God saying, "people need love, they need forgiveness. They need food, They need healing" Then upon hearing the angels, God wanted to fulfill all the needs of his people so he sent His only Son Jesus who became everything to all.
Jesus is the way, the life and the light. When we keep Christ in our family, our family will be a holy one. Let us keep Christ not only in Christmas but in every day of our life. Amen.

Merry Christmas

Good evening Everyone. Today we celebrate the biggest event that ever happened in human
history. yes, God became man and lived like you and me.

When baby Jesus first came into the world about two thousand years ago, His arrival was in
fulfillment of the promises of God the Father. For many years, God's chosen people had been
unstable. Sometimes they were faithful to God. Other times, they turned away from the grace
of God and greatly offended Him.And God sent many prophets, kings, holy men and women to
bring his people to his love and kindness.And at last,
to fulfill His promise, God sent into the world the Redeemer, the One who had been 'Sought
Out' for years and years. The Redeemer was Jesus! By the grace of God the Father and the
power of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus, we were delivered from sin.

The birth of Jesus is a reminder that God has not forgotten us. It is a reminder of how
much God loves us. It is a reminder that God has reached down to us so we in turn may reach
up to Him with praises and glory in thanksgiving for our salvation. Indeed, we have not
been forsaken by God.

The salvation that has come to us through Jesus Christ was not because of what we have
done. It was not because we behaved as good people. Nor was it because we were nice towards
our brothers and sisters. Our salvation came through the mercy of God that is received
through faith in Jesus and the Sacrament of Baptism.

On Christmas, we celebrate our birthday too. For this day, through Jesus, we all became
children of God. So let us thank God today and celebrate our life with happiness and joy.
Merry Christmas to you all. Amen.

Third sunday of Advent

Third sunday of Advent

Christianity is not all about sin, death and eternal punishment. It is about life, happiness and heaven.That is why the third sunday of Advent is called gaudet sunday or joyful sunday. We celebrate this joyful sunday praising Jesus who destroyed sin and death and showed the way to our eternal home.

once a mouse was in constant distress because of its fear of the cat. then a magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat. But then it became afraid of the dog.
So the magician turned it into a dog. Then it began to fear the tiger, so the magician turned it into a tiger. Whereupon it was full of fear for the hunter.
At this point, the magician gave up. He turned it into a mouse again saying, "Nothing I do for you, is going to be of any help because you have the mind of a mouse."

when we practice our faith out of fear and punishment, Church-going, receiving sacraments will become a ritual.when we come out of the fear of God and look at Him as loving Father,then we will celebate our coming to Church and other religious events.

In today's gospel, people from every walk of life come to JOhn the Baptist and ask what they have to do to celebate life, to rejoice and be happy in the lord who would be coming.
John asked them to love humanity and help others with what they had.

once a man saw a fox who lived in the deep forest that had lost its front legs.And the man who lived on the edge of the forest , seeing the fox from time to time, wondered how it managed to get its food. Then he saw a tiger bringing some food and leaving it for the fox.Then he thought to himself, "If this fox is taken care of in this mysterious way, its food sent by some unseen Higher Power, why don't I just stay in a corner and have my daily meal provided for me?"
Because he had a lot of faith, he let the days pass, waiting for food. Nothing happened. He just went on losing weight and strength until he was nearly a skeleton. Close to losing consciousness, he heard a Voice which said: "O you, who have mistaken the way, see now the Truth! You should have followed the example of that tiger instead of imitating the disabled fox."
John the batptist says those who have two coats should share with anynone who has none and whoever has food must do likewise. And so many people came to John and asked about what they had to do to prepare themselves to welcome the Son of God. And John answered them all saying, love humanity and do good to them.

once a man went to a spiritual master and asked, "How shall I get the grace of never judging my neighbor?"
"Through prayer."
"Then why have I not found it yet?"
"Because you haven't prayed in the right place."
"Where is that?"
"In the heart of God."
"And how do I get there?"
"Understand that anyone who sins does not know what he is doing and deserves to be forgiven."
yes, by accepting and helping others, we get ready to welcome the Lord our God.
This third sunday of Advent invites us to become John the baptist and let others know the love and kindness of Christ our lord. Amen.

christmas

Good morning everyone!On behalf of our parish, I would like to welcome you all for this celebration. Last year, i had a great opportunity to come to this event and it was so inspiring and wonderful. yourchidren did a great job and our sisters deserve to be recognized for their wonderful dedication and amazing work. Year after year, they help your children to understand the real meaning of the birth of Christ with many spiritual activities.
Children you all know about the story of the three wise men who went to see the child Jesus in Bethlehem. They look with them gold, insense and perfume as their presence. And there is a story about a fourth person who was neither a king nor a wise man but a small boy. Since he was poor, he could not take with him neither gold nor any precious thing with him. When he reached Bethlehem, he came to know that the three kings already visited the child Jesus and offered him their gifts of gold and precious things and he with hesitation entered the manger and bowed before the Child and said, " God...I don't have anything to offer your Son Jesus but myself and then he prayed to God and went home and thirty years later when Jesus was walking along the sea of Galilee, he found that person. yes, he was Simon peter... who became the first disciple of Jesus.
Today what can we give Jesus as his birth day presece.... he doesn't want gold....incense or anything precious but he wants us. yes, the best gift that we can give to Jesus is ourselves. So let us give ourselves and pray that everyone will come to know Jesus who is full of love.

The coming of the Lord

About that day, on one knows neither the angels nor the Son but Only the Father.

Each year at this time, the Church invites us to meditate upon the, "last things" namely
death, judgment, heaven and eternal punishment or hell.
1. Death:

For us Christians, death is not an end but a beginning. It is a new beginning to
everlasting life. In the gospels, Jesus says' "do not let your heart be troubled but trust
in God and trust in me. And I am going now to prepare a place for you and after I have
prepared a place for you, I will come to you and take you with me so that where I am, you
may also be.
The great emperor Alexander had three death wishes. He wanted his coffin carried by
physicians to show to the world that no one can stop death not even physicians.Anyone who
enters into this world has to exit. He wanted gold, silver and precious things be thrown
before his coffin till graveyard to show to the world that nothing is precious but only
what we do for others and he finally wanted his hands dangling from the coffin to show to
the world that he came into this world empty handed and is going away empty handed.
We will be judged according to our chiristian living and that is why for us Christians,
death is a celebration and joy.

2. Judgment:

We believe that on the last day, the same Jesus suffered and died on the Crosss for us; the
same Jesus who rose to life and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, will come to
judge us. He will judge us with compassion and love.
Once, a man who was passing by a road, noticed a blind child begging with a sign saying,"I
am blind, help me with money".Eveydody passed by but no one helped the boy. The man put
some coins in the bowl and rewrote something else on the sign pad. And he went on his way.
when Other people passing by, started donating money to this blind child upon reading that
sing pad. Beggar child was surprised and amazed. He knew that someone came earlier, donated
him some coin and re-wrote his sing pad, but he didn’t know what he wrote.
Now that person, was again passing by the same road. He stood near that blind child and
noticed that child’s bowl was full of coins. Child also recognized him and asked what
exactly he wrote that people started donating him coins? He replied, “Nothing much, Son. It
gives the same meaning, though I used different words.”. He said “I wrote - Today is such a
beautiful day but I can’t see it, I’m blind.”
The gospels say Jesus will judge us according to our charitable activity. Anything we do to
the least of our brothers or sisters we do unto him.

3. Heaven:

Jesus' second coming will open wide the gates of paradise for those who believe and follow
Him.
Once a soldier came to a spiritual master and asked: " Is there really a paradise and a
hell?"
"Who are you?"asked the master.
he replied, "I am a soldier".
The master looked at him and laughed and said, "what kind of king will have you. you look
like a weak and feeble person who even walk properly"
The soldier got so mad and he began to draw his sword. The master looked at the sword and
said, "it looks so dull and you want to cut my head off with this"
the soldier now actually drew his sword.
the master then remarked: "Here open the gates of hell!"
hearing the master's words, the soldier put his sword back and bowed down before him and
then the master said,
"Here open the gates of paradise".
No one knows the day or the hour of the coming of the Lord but as He promised, he will come
with His angels and archangels to judge us. And His judgment will open the gates of
paradise for us who believe in Him.
And the forth one is about eternal punishment or hell, and we who were baptized into the
holy catholic church and we who put our faith into practice, need not to be afraid of
eternal punishment because our home is paradise and we are called to enter into life
everlasting one day and until then let us continue our spiritual journey with hope. Yes,
HOPE is a good thing and it is the best of all things. Amen.

ALL SAINTS DAY

Today we celebrate the feast of all saints day. Today we remember known and unknown saints,
who put their faith into practice and helped others to know the love, kindness and the
forgiveness of God our Father.

Once a farmer who got so old that he could not labour in the field anymore, used to spend
all day just sitting on the porch. His son who was still working in the field, would look
up from time to time and would see his dad sitting on the porch. one day the son got so mad
thinking that his dad was not doing anything, made a wood coffin, dragged it over to the
porch and asked his dad to get in. Without saying anything, the dad climbed inside. The son
took the coffin to a mountain top to throw him down. And before throwing him down, the dad
spoke,"son, may i suggest something?" what? the son asked, throw me over the cliff, if you
wish but save this wood coffin because your children might need it one day.

Saints are living among us, teaching us the values of life and living; teaching about God's love
and forgiveness. They are blessed because theirs is the kingdom of God.

The sermon on the mount teaches us the way of life. It teaches us to understand and accept our
life and of others. The sermon on the mount gives faith in present and hope in the future.

Once a saint visited a village and the news spread like wild fire. And people came from
everywhere to see the saint, and a man made a long and difficult journey to visit the
saint. when he arrived at the house, he saw an old servant inside who greeted him at the
door, the man said, "I am here to see the saint". The old man smiled and led him inside, as
they walked through the house, the man looked everywhere to meet the saint. But before he
knew it, he had been let to the back door and was put outside. The man looked at the old
man and said, "I want to see the saint". The old man looked at him and said, "you already
have my friend, you already have". "Every one you may meet in life, even if they appear
plain and insignificant... see each of them as a holy person, a saint and then you will come
to know the secret of life.

On this all saints day, we not only honour the memory of countless known and unknown saints
and holy men and women and also thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in his
holiness and heavenly glory as a reward for their life. And we thank God for blessing us
with gifts of love and forgiveness and thus a way to put our faith into practice.
Saints were people who did ordinary things in an extra-ordinary way. We are all called to
become saints by living out the gospel message.

one day people in a small village in Italy approached St. Francis and said to him, "we have
wolf problem. It kills the animals and terrorize our children and people, we don't know
what to do. please help us and St. Francis approached and talked to the wolf and then he
said to the people, "feed the wolf and it will go away"

a small act of Charity can bring big change in others. saints were people who by doing
small things make a difference in someones lives.

what is the best way to become a saint in twentieth century?
Is it to do what St. Anthony did in the forth century; turn our backs on the pleasure of
the world and live apart from society in a desert?
Is it to do what St.Francis did in the thirteenth century? turn our backs on material
wealth and preach the gospel wherever we can find a crowd?
Or is it to do something like St. Elizabeth did in the nineteenth century: raise a family and
spend the rest of our life working with society's sick and needy?
The answer to the question is Now don't become a saint by doing what god made somebody else to do but we become a saint by
doing what God made us to do.

yes, holy men and women and saints inspire us to find out our call and achieve our holiness by living it out each and every day. So as we are celebrating ALL SAINTS DAY today, let us ask God to bless us and thus we will reach holiness by living according to our call. Amen.

FAITH BRINGS SIGHT

FAITH BRINGS SIGHT

In today's gospel, we meet with Jesus, the crowd and the blind man.
We meet with Jesus:God as He promised sent at last His Only Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Jesus who came among us preached the good news, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and even raised the dead to life. He said that we all children of God and we belong only to God.
once a teacher showed a hundred dollar bill to his students and asked who wanted the bill
and every one raised the hand and then He crumpled the bill and asked, "now who wanted the
bill and everyone still raised their hands and then he threw the bill on the floor and
grinded it with his shoes and asked, "now who wanted the hundred dollar bill and everyone
still wanted the bill" then he looked at the students and said, "even though the dollar was
crumpled, grinded and thrown on the floor, it never lost its value.

And in the same way, even though we go away from God and experienced much pain,
difficulties and challenges, God never changes his love and thus he sent his only son Jesus
to be with us.In today's gospel, Jesus heals a blind man and said, "Son, your faith has saved you, go in
peace"

2. Then we meet the crowd:when the blind man cried with the loud voice saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on
me". the crowed tried to stop him. But He never stopped calling out for the Lord.

Once Mother Theresa went to a rich man and stretched out her hand and asked for donation to
run her orphanage, the rich man who was against Catholicism, said, no and spit on her palm.
But Mother Theresa smiled at him and then stretched her another hand and said, "that spit
is for me but now please give something for the poor" Right there the rich man was
converted into Catholicism and dedicated his whole life for Christ and for the poor.
when we ask God without ceasing, it will be given to us. Even though the crowed tried to
stop the blind man from getting help from Jesus, he never gave up and then He received
sight from our Lord.

3. In today's gospel, we see the strong faith of the blind man.
The blind man had a very strong faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel says if we have
faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains, and if we have faith and say to a
mulberry tree, be uprooted and be planted in the sea and it would obey us.
once there was a mother who saw her son going away from God and facing challenges and she
without ceasing prayed for her son more than twenty years and finally because of her
prayer, her Son became a great teacher of the Church and he is none other than St.
Augustine.

Today's gospel invites us to pray without ceasing, without stopping. Let us continue to
pray to God and experience His love and kindness each and every day. Amen.

PRAYER HEARD

Dressed well

Coloured hair

Smelled good

As usual,

I went to Church

Sat at the back

Closed my eyes

Began to pray

But,

All I saw in my mind was

Plate full of food

Bacon and eggs

Fried potatoes too

Toasted bread

On the side

With glass full of

Orange juice too.

Unable to pray more
Went to home
Opened the door
There in kitchen
My wife who
Wanted DIVORCE
With smiling face
Making my favorite breakfast.

Blind prayer

Blind prayer

I was going to bed

thinking of

changing the world

a better place to live;

making the sun shine

a little brighter,

asking the flower

to bloom everyday

And showing humanity

a happier way to love.

I was going to bed

thinking of

wiping the tears of the poor

with my giving

helping the needy

with my generosity

using my energy

to make the humanity

to smile every day.

And as usual

when my GUIDE DOG barks

I know it is another day

to see humanity happy.

MISSION SUNDAY

Mission Sunday

Today our Catholic Church celebrates, "Mission Sunday". And Today our holy Catholic Church
invites us to support missionaries who dedicate their lives to bring the Good News to all.

One day a man came to a spiritual master and offered two gold coins and asked, "Master,
what should I do to become a missionary?" The master took one of the gold coins and threw
it in the river, the man right away jumped in the river to find it but he could it. He
asked, "where did you throw the coin?". The master again took another gold coin threw it in
the river and said, "right there". Then the master looked at the man with compassion and
said, "if you want to become a missionary, you should know how to unbind yourself from
material things that will bind you".
By the very nature of the sacrament of baptism, we are all called to become missionaries of
the word of God at home and in society. when we bind ourselves with Christ, then we are
called missionaries.

once a man came to a master and said, "master, I want to be a lay missionary and before
going on mission, I would like to stop drinking alcohol or at least to know when to stop
drinking, I want to know the limit. The master said, "look at those four people, when you
see those four people as eight people, then stop drinking and you will be fine" Then the
man thanked the master and said, "master, by the way... they are not four people but only
two".
Our missionaries have so many challenges such as learning new languages, cultures and
customs.And they have to face many immediate practical challenges such as weather, food
and physical and psychological surroundings.

Once a European missionary went to Tanzania and was preaching the good news of Christ among
people for many years and one day a group of British soldiers came and all the children ran
to welcome them and were singing and dancing for them and then they came to him and said,
"we saw white foreigners today". The missionary looked at them and said, "look at me, I am
white and I am a foreigner too". They looked at him and said, "No.. you are not a
foreigner. you are our father".
Today our missionaries need our prayers and help because they spend their lives doing great
things for others. Today Christianity is spreading everywhere because of their dedication
and commitment.

Once there was a fight between two african tribes in Niger and a man from one tribe killed his neighbour who belonged to the another tribe. when the tribe won, they wanted to take revenge of the killer and they callled wife who witnessed her husband's death and asked her to point out the killer but she refused to do so saying, the missionaries who were here, taught us how to forgive and accept others. If we go as eye for an eye way, then the whole world will be blind. I forgave him and you should forgive him too. yes, Christian missionaries did and are doing wonderful mission of changing the world a better place to live.

Jesus, after His resurrection asks his disciples to go everywhere to preach the good news
and promised that he would accompany them till the end. As we pray for our missionaries, let us also remember that we are all called to preach the
Good News of Jesus Christ by our way of life each and every day. Amen.

Marriage is a sacrament

From the beginning of Creation, God made them male and female.

God created people in His own image and likeness. He created them male and female. And they were created to know God and love
others with the god-given gifts. The book of Genesis says that God made people from the dust of the ground and we should know
that we belong to God.once a man came to a spiritual master and said, "Master, help me to find happiness. my wife and I are like water and clay,
together we only make mud no life. The master looked at him and said, " because you are dust and unto dust you shall return.
Go and find what it means.2. In today's gospel, Jesus says that because of the hardness of heart, separation, divorce and enmity happen in humanity.
Where there is love, there is God and where there is God, there is heaven. When family keeps Christ at the center of their
life, then their family will be a holy family. Without Jesus, life will be meaningless.once a 98 year-old man and a 95 year-old woman wanted to get divorce.And the lawyer looked at them and asked “How long have
you been married?" They said, "75 rough and rocky years,. "Then, why have you waited so long to file for divorce?" They
replied, we don't want to give bad impression to our children and we waited for our them to die.According to our Catholic faith, Marriage is a sacrament directly instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. Through the
institution of Marriage, the male and the female continue to experience the love of God in their good times and in bad and in
their sickness and in health. once a couple was being interviewed on their Golden Wedding Anniversary. "In all that time -- did you ever consider
divorce?" they were asked. "Oh, no, not divorce," one of them said. "Murder sometimes, but never divorce.heart is the symbol of love and forgiveness and when we make the sign of the cross, we touch the heart and say, in the name
of the son because Jesus was born man and experienced our human frailties. He is the source of all love. Jesus says when two
are in his name, there he will be with them. what is the secret for long lasting marriage? it is forgiveness, forgiveness and more forgiveness.they will say that marriage is a three ring circus... engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering. once a older priest was invited to say some few words on a wedding celebration and he who always used to qoute something from the bible said, " Father... forgive them for they know not what they do"Today let us ask God to bless every married couples and thus they come to know the value of the sacrament of marriage.

Those who humble themselves will be exalted

The secret of knowing Jesus personally

Today we are facing more violence and killing in the name of religions than any other human
cause. Today we are struggling with more religious problems than any other human issues.why
do we reject and fight with each other, Since all religions teach about love, kindness and
forgiveness?Because in one way or another, we are struggling to deepen and develop our faith in God.

The Bible says when everything failed, God at last sent His Only Son Jesus to save us.
Jesus, the only Son of God, the Messiah humbled himself to become man and thus He set an
example for us all.when we believe in Jesus, we will eventually become like him, humble, loving and forgiving.

once a minister was given an award for humility and a week later, the congregation took the
award back because he displayed the award in his office.

when we humble ourselves in the presence of God, then we will be exalted in the presence of
others.

There is a gospel story that says once two people went to pray to God, one stood in front
of the temple and with a loud voice said, "God, you know that i am a good man. I pray five
times a day and fast twice a week. I give ten percent of my salary to the temple and serve
and help others. he was so proud and everyone who walked by heard his prayers and the other
person who did not even raise his head, prayed to God saying, "God, i am a sinner, forgive
me" and then Jesus concluded his story saying the one who humbled himself would be exalted.
Humility transfers our worldly knowledge into diving wisdom. It teaches to accept all as
children of God and serve humanity with kindness and love.
one day a woman came to a minister and said, "every time I come to church, i feel so proud
of myself. By looking at others, I can see how beautiful I am, how gorgeous i am. is it sin
to feel that i am more beautiful than others?the minister looked at her and said, "in your case,it is not a sin at all. then he said, it
is a horrible, horrible mistake".

humility is the secret key to know Jesus personally and bring peace to this world. Humility
teaches to accept others as they are.

Once Winston Churchill was asked, "are you so proud of yourself that every time you make a
speech, the hall is overflowing, you get a big crowd?"Churchill said, "it is flattering. I always remember that if instead of making a political
speech, I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big."

In today's gospel, Jesus looked at the disciples who were fighting with each other for who
was the greatest and big and said, "whoever wants to be first must be last of all and
servant of all.Jesus the Only son of god set an example. He humbled himself to become man and then asked his disciples to follow his way. if we want to become like Jesus, then we should humble
ourselves and servants of all. Like our master, when we empty our humanity and humble
ourselves, we will be filled with divinity and be exalted. Amen.

He has done everything well

He has done everything well

once after their fiftieth wedding celebration, the man looked at his wife
and said, "honey, I am so proud of you". And the wife who was hard of
hearing said, "speak up, I can't hear you". "I said I am so proud of you"The wife answered "thank you, I am also tired of you"
In today's gospel, Jesus heals a man who was deaf and people who saw his
amazing wonders said to each other, "He has done everything well; he even
makes the deaf hear and the mute speak" and thus they were astounded beyonds
words.
In those days, in the time of Jesus, physical and mental challenges were
considered punishment of God. And thus they were rejected by family members
and society.The great philosopher Plato said, "challenged people were waste
of society and they should be thrown out from a mountain top".Then our Lord Jesus came saying, "we all belong to God.There is no
partiality in the sight of God. Our physical, mental challenges are for the
glory of God and thus He began to heal the sick, give sight to the blind and
make the deaf hear....
Once a man who was poor and had old torn cloths went to Church and people
who looked at him went away from him saying, "He smells bad and he has old
torn cloths on him" And after the celebration, the minister said to him, "
the next time before coming to Church talk to God and find out the dress
code" And the next Sunday also the man came with the same old torn cloths.
people rejected him and nobody shared even peace with him. After celebration the
minister asked him, "I told you talk to God and did you talk to him?" the
man said, "yes I did and He said he did not know the dress code of this
Church because he had never been to this Church".
By His miracles and wonders, Jesus wide opened the hearts of the people and
they began to see the wonders of God's doing and accept everyone as precious
child of God.
Once a man saw people eating grass by the side of the road and asked, "what
are you doing?" the guy said,"we are so poor and don't have anything to eat""get into my limousine and I"ll help you". the guy said, "I have a wife and
three children" "take them all with you" And they all got into the limousine
and thus he took them to his place.the guy with his wife and children
thanked him saying, "you are a very generous man and we thank you". the rich
man looked at them and said, " look at my place the grass is two feet tall,
go and eat them".
Many of us don't see the suffering of others because we are not experiencing
the healing power of God in us. Jesus heals us through His words and through
His Church.Ephphata or opening ourselves experience happens when we love others as we are.
once a salesperson saw an old man sitting on his porch and drinking and smoking in the morning without any worry or concern. The man approached him and asked, "Hi old man... you look so happy and what is the reason be to happy always?" the Old man looked at him and said, "I drink and smoke everyday and eat six times a day" and the man looked at the old man and asked, "by the way how old are you?" the old man said, "I am twenty-five".
Ephpata experience can happen to those who respect themselves and love others without conditions. So let us experience Jesus' healing in us and continue His mission by helping others to experience healing. Amen.

MASTER, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?

Once a grandfather suffered a deep betrayal and was in turmoil. His grandson who noticed that asked, “Grandpa, what is wrong?”

The grandpa said to him, “there are two wolves fighting inside me. One is called anger and the other is called forgiveness. The grandson thought for a while and asked, “while one will win grandpa?”The grandfather looked at him for a while and said, “the one which I feed”.

In today’s gospel, the Pharisees and Scribes who were afraid to become selfless and generous, who were afraid to help the poor and the needy like Our Lord Jesus Christ, said to Him, “who will follow your teachings. They are very hard and challenging and thus they went away from Him”.They misinterpreted the bible and God’s way by feeding the wrong wolf.When Jesus broke their approaching by His miracles and teachings, they left Him. But Jesus never stopped loving them.

Once after ten years of being a disciple, a man became a teacher and then one day, he went to visit his master who taught him the power of prayer and the teachings of Christ our Lord.The master was so happy to welcome him and then he asked him, “son, when you came in…did you leave your shoes by the door?”

The man said, “yes…master. I did”“did you leave them on the right side or on left side?”He did not know the answer. He then realized that he had not yet attained full awareness and then he became his disciple for ten more years.

In today’s gospel, Jesus looked at His disciples and said, “Do you also wish to leave?”Simon Peter said, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”Even our life time is not enough to learn the love and kindness of Jesus. His every word has power and healing.

What are those eternal words? Jesus himself is the living words and anyone listens to him, will have life everlasting.By eating his body and drinking his blood, we too become his words of eternal source for those who are away from God and are struggling to experience his love and kindness, so let us be his witnesses of everlasting love, Amen.

About a Boy-17th sunday-B

About a boy-17^th Sunday-B

Today I am going to talk about a boy who had five loaves and two fish. I am going to talk about the boy who became an instrument of Jesus’ miracle. Yes, an ordinary and every day boy became a huge inspiration for many. once a sunday school teacher was talking about last judgment and then she said to the children, "when Jesus comes, he will separate the sheep from the goats. He will send the sheep to heaven and do you know what he will do with the goats?" no one answered and then finally little Joseph raised his hand and said, " he will make goat cheese from them".

One day God looked at Abraham and said, “prove your fidelity to me. Take the boy Isaac and sacrifice him on the mountain” and Abraham obeyed what God commanded and on the way to the mountain the boy Isaac was keep on asking his dad, “dad, where is the sacrificial lamb… dad, where is the sacrificial lamb” Abraham said, ‘Son, God will provide” and at the end when Abraham said, “son, you are the sacrificial lamb… Isaac became a miracle boy. Then God blessed both Abraham and Isaac abundantly. The innocent boy Isaac became an instrument of God.

Once a Sunday school teacher asked the children why they should be quiet in Church and little Joseph raised his hand and said, “because people are sleeping” then when will they get up? children seem to know everythig and little Josehp answered her saying, during the consacration time when they ring the bell".

At the age of twelve, the boy Jesus found himself at the Jerusalem temple, He was surrounded by scholars, Pharisees and scribes. He inspired many by his wisdom and knowledge. God does great things with what we consider small and unimportant.Once little Joseph looked at his grandmother and said, "Grandma..do you know how you and god are alike?" how? little Joseph said, " you both are old". Grandma began to laugh. Little Joseph asked her why. She said, 'look at your Grandpa and he is older than God".

In today’s gospel, Jesus took compassion for the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd and asked his disciples to feed them. And one of the disciples, Andrew said to Jesus, “ there is a boy here who has five loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?

And Jesus multiplied the bread and fish and fed more than five thousand people.Big or small, rich or poor every one is important in the sight of God and that is why He chose ordinary people to be his disciples and that is why he chose you and me to be his children. Little drops of water can make a mighty ocean.Jesus may and can use us, as we give up or lose faith thinking that we are nobody and we have nothing to offer for the well-being of others, and does miracles and wonders in and through us. Like the boy who had five loaves and two fish, when we become instruments of God; like the boy who participated in the miracle of multiplication, when we actively participate in our daily life; we will come to know that the boy is none other than you and me. Amen.

Holy Trinity

HOLY TRINITY

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity. We celebrate the triune god. The Father is God. The Son is God. And the Holy Spirit is God. But they are not three gods but only one God.

Many religions talk about Trinitarian gods in their faith. For example, Hinduism. They have a creator god, a protector god and a destroyer god. They believe in three different gods but we- Christians believe in One God. The father god is the creator and the son God is the redeemer and the third person, the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier.

Once a group of people came to St. Patrick and asked him to explain the Holy Trinity. And St. Patrick who picked a three-leaved shamrock and showed to them and said, God is one but three different persons like the three-leaved shamrockIn today’s gospel, Jesus asks his disciples to go out everywhere and baptize them all in the name of Trinity. And Jesus says in the gospels that God sent him. And he often refers God as His father who is equal in power.

Jesus says that the father sent him and he will send the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him.We all know the famous story of St. Augustine who was so confused about the mystery of the Holy Trinity and one day while he was walking along the seashore saw a small boy using a sea shell to take the sea water to pour on the shore. St. Augustine was asking him what he was doing and the boy said, “I am going to take all water from the sea and pour it on the shore with this sea shell”. St. Augustine laughed at him and said, “it is impossible”. then the boy said, ‘if you think you can understand the secret of Holy trinity with your tiny mind then it is also possible and then he disappeared.

let us adore our truine god, amen

Jesus sends his disciples two by two

Jesus sent his disciples two by two to preach the good news

Jesus, after giving authority and power to his disciples, sends them out two by two to preach the good news. And the disciples went everywhere doing what the Lord commanded them to do.Once a man came to a spiritual master and said, “master, I want to become your disciple and learn everything by spending ten hours a day and how long will it take to become like you?”The master said, “it will take about ten years”The man said, “what if I spend twenty hours a day?”Then the master said, “it will take twenty years”Only by spending time , we learn about God and his love and kindness. The disciples spent time with Jesus and witnessed his miracles and wonders. And then once they were ready, Christ sent them out.

He sent them out two by two. The gospels talk about the resurrection stories and one of them is about the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. On the way to Emmaus, the two looked sad and down and then Jesus joined them and explained everything about his suffering, death and resurrection and then their eyes were opened and their hearts were burning within them. They had an ultra spiritual experience. Jesus says when two or more gather in his name, there he will be with them. As the disciples went two by two, Jesus joined them in their mission giving them courage and strength.As followers of Christ, we are called to pray together not only in the Church but also at home.Once after his sister’s baptism, the brother began to cry and his parents asked him, “why do you cry. Your sister was baptized and is fine”. He said, “did you notice that the priest was saying that children should be raised in Christian homes but I like to live with you guys”.Christian home is one where people pray together and experience the love of God by giving and forgiving one another.And Jesus also asked his disciples not to take anything except some necessary things for their journey. Yes, they took with them love, faith and hope. They were not afraid of journeying because Jesus was accompanying them.One a man asked a spiritual master, “master, why do you leave the house wide opened, every time you leave the house?”The master said, “there is nothing to be afraid of because I am the only precious thing or person in the house”Jesus by giving his blessing made his disciples precious and important.

And we are always precious to him. When we specially follow the lord and preach the good news to all, we are not alone the Lord who was, who is and who will be is always with us. Amen.