Fourth sunday in Lent

Fourth Sunday in Lent

Through faith we are saved and are physically healed

The great philosopher Plato once said that all the invalid people should be taken to the mountain top and from there, they all should be thrown down because they are waste of society. So many people even today treat disabled people differently, but today’s gospel says that they are here for the glory of God. People who are physically or mentally challenged and people who are sick can completely be healed when they have faith in God Almighty. Faith heals and makes us new each and every day.

Once a man who stopped going to Church wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper saying, “Going to Church makes no sense to me. I have gone to church for thirty years now and in that time I have heard something like 3, 000 sermons. But to be honest with myself, I cannot remember a single one of them. So I think that I wasted my time, energy and resources and also the preachers who did all the sermons.

Then a week after, there was another letter to the editor saying, “ I have been married thirty years now and during this time, my wife cooked about thirty-two thousand meals and to be honest with you, I can not recall every single one of them. But one thing I know those meals gave me strength to do my job and live my life. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise If I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today.

When we have faith in God, miracles happen.

Today there are so many books on how to prolong life, look beautiful, and lose weight and so on. Everything about body healing and living happily ever after. But they all fail because they forget to focus on the inner-self, the spirit that does everything in a person’s body. The soul is the one that keeps the body alive, makes the body beautiful and youthful. When the soul is being nourished, our body becomes new and holy.

With what can we feed the soul?

We can feed our soul with faith. Faith opens us to miracles and wonders of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In today’s gospel, Jesus by touching the born blind healed him. Then the Pharisees and the scribes and people came to him and asked, ‘now you are healed and you can see things clearly. What do you say about the man who healed you?” He said he was a holy man, prophet, the Messiah. He increased my faith in Him and thus I could see now and I fell physically stronger and healthier. But they instead of having faith in the Messiah criticized and chased him away.

Once a man was blessed to have a dog that could walk on water. The man was so excited and wanted to show to his friend who was more like the Pharisees criticizing everything and doing nothing. Every time the man threw a ball in the water, the dog responded and jumped into the water, the dog, however did not sink but instead walked across to pick up the ball. This continued all day along; each time he threw the ball in the water, the dog walked on the water and picked up the ball.

But his friend did not say a word about anything. On the way back home, the man looked at his friend and asked, “Did you notice anything unusual about my dog?’

The man said, “Yes, of course, “your dog can not swim”.

We will always meet people who will criticize and put us down because of our faith in Jesus. In the gospel today we see how Jesus after hearing what happened to the blind man who got healed met him again and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man’s very belief gave him courage to face everything. He went with faith and began to proclaim the Good News.

Conclusion:

Dear friends, the season of Lent in a special way invites us to keep our faith alive in the love and kindness of God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is our duty to renew our faith each and every day saying, “I do believe, Lord”. Yes, every time we say, “I do believe, Lord’ His miracles will continue in and through us. Amen.

ENCOUNTER

Third Sunday in Lent

Introduction;

Good morning every one. As I welcome you all to celebrate Jesus today, I thank you for coming out to join our St. Patrick’s faith family to show your support and love. Because of your presence, our Kinmount community experiences Christ’s love and kindness.

We often hear and read from the Bible that God hears the cry of the poor. And today’s gospel is all about how Jesus the incarnation word hears the cry of the people who are away from the love and kindness of God.

There is a real story about John Newton who lived in seventeenth century in England. He was a tough man who wanted to accomplish every thing in his lifetime. He made a lot of money by buying people from Africa and selling them to different countries as slaves. Once as he was returning from Africa about thousand slaves, he faced with a huge cyclone. The ship in which he was bringing people was almost going to sink. John Newton never believed in God or practiced his faith for the first time, knelt before God and prayed saying, “ God… I never respected your creatures. I humiliated and treated them bad. I sell people from one country to another as slaves please forgive me. I will never do anything against your will. Please do with me as you please”. Right after his prayers there happened a miracle. Yes, the cyclone stopped and there came a deep calm. He could hear from Christ, ‘Do not be afraid. I will give you life-giving water”.

John Newton changed his life, he became a famous Anglican minister and He is the one who wrote the famous hymn which is being sung ten million times every year. The famous hymn is… “Amazing grace… how sweet the sound…”

Gospels are full of spiritual encounters. Every time people came to Christ with their physical and psychological needs, Jesus with love and kindness healed them. He gave them all everlasting life. Even He asked some of the people who got healed not to say anything to anyone but they went everywhere and spread the good news.

In today’s gospel we see a beautiful encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman who never experienced God’s love and kindness. When Jesus asked her for drink, she refused saying, “we are different from each other. I am a Samaritan woman and you are a Jewish man. You should not ask me for anything”. There we can see the loneliness and the longing of the woman for love and kindness. And our Lord says I am here to bring you into the fold and I will give you life-giving water. Yes, Jesus is our life-giving water. When we are with Him, we will never be thirsty of anything. We will be completed and full.

The question today is, are we ready to encounter Christ in our daily life? Christ is waiting at our well of life. He is waiting for us to give us life and salvation. He is waiting for us to open a new way to Jerusalem. Let us go to him and we will be satisfied.

This season of lent invites us to encounter Christ who we are. We do not need to change but when we are willing to come to Him, the change will happen in us automatically. There are people pushing themselves more and more spending time in prayers but they do not see any change in themselves because spiritual growth is not about how much time we spend in prayers and it is all about how we spend. Let us open our hearts willingly and there we will see a big change and a beautiful encounter with Christ our Lord. Amen.

Second lent

Second Sunday in Lent- 2011

I would like to invite you all to celebrate the second Sunday in Lent. And I thank you all for coming today to celebrate the love and kindness of God our Father through Christ our Lord. Today we are so blessed to deepen our faith through prayer, fasting and helping others.

In today’s gospel, we come to know the importance of prayer and its effect. Yes, Jesus our Lord Christ with three of His disciples goes to a mountaintop and there in the presence of His disciples begins to pray to His Father. While He was spending time in prayer, there came a big change in Him. Yes, He transfigured. His face was shinning like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white. He was all radiating spiritual power and energy around Him. Every one who was there began to reflect that light. Jesus Himself became a bright light. The power of prayer was being manifested to all by His transfiguration.

Once a priest noticed a man praying for hours and hours in front of the tabernacle and he went over and asked him, “What are you talking to God?” The man said, I do not talk to God but listen. What does God say to you? Nothing He is just listening to me too.

There are four ways of praying to God.

1. We talk and God listens

2. God talks and we listen

3. God and we talk and we both listen

4. God and we do not talk and God and we do not listen… silence.

Today I am going to present to you the three “D” of the apostles and the fourth “D” of the Lord Jesus.

Distraction:

After spending time in prayer, Jesus began to transfigure. And the apostles who did not expect the change in Christ began to be distracted. They were confused and were afraid. Because of their distraction, they began to say different things to Jesus. And the presence of Moses and Elijah were adding more to their distress and distraction and Simon Peter came forward and said to Jesus with courage, “Jesus… It is very good to be here. Let us make three shelters here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah”.

Distance:

After their distraction, there came a distance in them. They could not recognize the presence of Christ and His power. Though Jesus taught them how to pray and connect themselves with God. They struggled to recognize and know Christ. They slowly began to distant themselves.

Once there lived woman who never missed daily Mass. She went to church every day and even retuning from the church, she uttered prayers and said rosaries, and thus she did not bother with people who asked her help. When beggars were asking her for money, all she said was, “I am praying do not bother me” one day when she went to church, she realized that the door was locked. She was all worried thinking that she was going to miss the celebration. She tried to push and push, nothing happened. Then she looked up, there she saw a note saying, and “I am out there among the poor and the needy”.

Difficulty:

Then comes the difficulty. Because of their distraction and distance, they experienced difficulty. They were so afraid and were not saying anything to Christ our Lord who invited them to know the power of prayer and its effect namely transfiguration.

Though Christ was with them, they were afraid. And the Lord said, “get up and do not be afraid”.

Once after March break, a teacher looked at her students and only one looked so said and afraid and thoughtful. She asked him, “what bothers you and why are you worried and afraid? He said my parents. My dad is a great man. He has a good job and makes lots of money. He does everything for me. He took me to Disneyland and Caribbean Island for March break and my mom is good too. She cooks and cleans for me and she is good to me. Then why are you afraid, “I am worried that they might try to escape”.

While Jesus was with them, the disciples were afraid. But Jesus encouraged them saying, ‘do not be afraid”

The fourth “D” from Jesus:

The fourth D is called divinity. Since the disciples were distracted, distant and were in difficulty, the voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him”.

Once a little fish Nemo seeing a big fish said, “excuse me. You are bigger than I and you have more experience. Please tell me where the ocean is?’ the big fish looking at the little fish Nemo said, “Ocean is the thing you are in now” Nemo said, “but this is water. What I am look for is the Ocean”.

Conclusion:

When we are away from distraction, distance and difficulty, we will find divinity the ocean in Jesus the Lord. Let us spend time in prayer and recognize the ocean where we are in now. Amen.

second Lent

The three “D” of the apostles and the forth “D” of our Lord Jesus Christ

Welcome everyone to celebrate the second Sunday of Lent. This holy season invites us to deepen our faith through the means of prayer, fasting and helping others. And in today’s gospel focuses on prayer namely how our Lord Jesus Christ with two of His disciples went up to a mountain to pray. While He was praying, His clothes became dazzling white and His face shone like the Sun. Yes, prayer has the power. Any one who dedicates himself to God and spends time in prayer will have the same experience of Christ our Lord. They will radiate light and energy. They will do greater things than others. They will perform and do miracles and wonders in the name of Christ our Lord.

Once a man was sitting in church for hours on end. One day a priest asked him what God talked to him about. The man said, “God does not talk but listens” well then what do you talk to him about? I do not talk either. I just listen.

They say there are four stages of prayer:

We talk God listens

God talks we listen

Both talk and both listen

And both do not talk and both do not listen: Silence.

The three “D” of the Apostles:

They are Distraction, Distance and Difficulty. Seeing Christ shining like the sun distracted the apostles. They were speechless and spellbound. They were looking at each other with fear and distraction. They did not know what to say. Then Simon Peter said to Christ, “ Let us make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Eliza”. Because of their distraction, they did not see the power of prayer. Jesus was spending time with His father and because of the power of prayer, His clothes became dazzling white and His face was shining like the Sun. And the power of His prayer attracted Moses and Eliza. While the glorious things were happening, the apostles were distracted.

Because of their distraction, the second “D” namely distance happened. Yes, they distant themselves from Jesus and God power.

There was once a woman who was religious and devout and filled with love for God. Every day she went to church and she never missed her prayers. Even on the way back home, she used to say her prayers and rosary. While she was walking back home, beggars used to ask her for help but she because of her devotion and prayers never paid any attention. One day as usual when she came to church early morning for Mass, she noticed the door was locked. She pushed and pushed, she could not open and she realized that she was going to be late for the service and then she looked up, there was a note saying, “I am out there living among the poor and the beggars’.

Because of their distraction they distant themselves from Christ and they forgot to see the glory of God in Him. Then the voice came and said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to Him”.

And because of their distraction and distance, there came the third “D” called difficulty. Yes, they began to be afraid of what had happened. They are so disturbed and fearful. The Jesus our Lord said to them, “Rise… do not be afraid”

One day a grandmother asked her grandson, ‘do you say your prayers every night”

He said, ‘of course… one our father and five hail Mary”

Do you say your prayers in the day?

He then looked at his grandmother and said, “grandma… I am not scared in the day”

When we are away from God, even the day becomes darker. And that is why the disciples faced difficulty.

Then the Master brings the forth “D” called divinity.

Yes, He asks them to be with Him. He assures them that they will understand everything but they have to wait. When we are with God, we will understand our humanity namely we connect ourselves with divinity… our father.

Conclusion: this season of Lent invites us to know God through Lenten disciples and let us today mainly focus on prayers. Amen.

First Lent

First Sunday of Lent

Today we celebrate first Sunday in Lent. These forty days of Lent invites us to explore ourselves in the presence of God and others. This season helps us to say, “Yes” to the love of God once again. Lent is not all about fasting; it is also about feasting and celebrating our oneness with God Our Father in Jesus Christ.

Today’s gospel deals with three different temptations of our Lord Jesus Christ namely to go against God, against others and against oneself.

1. The first temptation:

It is about going against God and His Love and Kindness

Once a king called all his wise men and asked, “What should I do to a person who kicked me, slapped me and even spat on my face?”

The people who heard from the king were so furious and angry. They all came up with something against the person. The first one said, “Your Majesty, “ You should immediately execute the person”. The other said, “You should behead him”. Every one went on and on. Then finally a wise man said, “your majesty, you should kiss the feet that kicked you, you should kiss the hand that slapped you and you should adore that person who spat on you”. When people heard, they were all shocked and the king looked at him and asked, “Why do you say this?” The wise man then said, “no one has the authority or power to go against you except your little son who loves you so much”.

And the purpose of the coming of Christ is to say that God is our Father and though we go away from God, He never stops loving us. We should know that He loves us unconditionally and is with us twenty-four seven.

But when we focus on physical things as the tempter asks Jesus, then we begin to make stones into bread. We forget to live every word that comes from the mouth of God. Prayer helps us to recognize the tempter and say “no” to him and thus to get closer to our Father.

2. The second temptation:

Going against our neighbor and others

Once there was a beautiful island where all the feelings lived such as happiness, joy, sadness, love and so on. And one day they came to know that the island was going to sink, so all the feelings got out of the island except love. Love all love waited until the last moment. When love decided to get out, there was no help. Richness said, “I am so rich i

can not take you with me”. Beauty said, “I am so beautiful and I can not take your with me”. Sadness said, ‘I am so sad and I cannot take you with me” Then at last time came and took love to the dry land. Then love said to all, “only time is capable of understanding how valuable love is”. When we take time to be with others, we will come to know the value of love and kindness. When the tempter wanted to give Jesus authority and power over every thing and every one, Jesus said, “I am here to love and serve God. Yes, like Jesus we should serve God and others and we should take time to be with others and then we will come to know how precious god created humanity is. The Lenten observance of fasting or giving up certain thing helps us to serve God and humanity and say “no” to our tempter.

3. The third temptation:

Going against oneself

It is a story about an alcoholic. His wife threatened to leave him. His children were afraid of him. He lost all his best friends. He was then so depressed and helpless and he did not know how to stop drinking. Then one day, he met with his best friend who looked at him and said, ‘Friend, I understand you. I accept you. You do not need to change. I accept you the way you are”. When the man heard his friend’s words, he experienced a big chance in him. Yes, there… right there he changed. He became a new man.

When people go against money and material things, they forget God and the power of self. And thus they go against themselves trapped into the power of evil. Instead when we accept ourselves, we will change. Yes, we will change for the better.

Conclusion: The season of Lent invites us to say “No” to our temptations, evil and wrong doings and say, “yes” to the love of God and helping others and exploring ourselves more in His presence. Amen.

"Lord...Lord"

ANYONE WHO SAYS “LORD…LORD” WILL NOT ENTER INTO THE

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT ONLY THOSE WHO PUT THEIR FAITH INTO

PRACTICE.

In today’s gospel, Jesus says anyone who says, “Lord…Lord” will not enter into the kingdom of God but only those who put their faith into practice. Yes, by calling, “Lord…Lord” one will not enter into the kingdom of God. There is a beautiful story about a man who invented fire. When he invented fire, he went to North Pole to teach them. People were so excited to learn and they were happy. They appreciated him saying, ‘now we can protect ourselves from cold and bad weather’ then he moved from village to village to teach people how to make fire. It went on and on. Then one day as usual, some people got so jealous of him and killed him. But people never forgot him; they built a big statue of him and put it in the temple along with the instrument he used to make fire. The worship went for centuries. People talked about the fire inventor but forgot how to make fire.

Yes, people who call Jesus “ Lord…Lord” but forget to do what he says is like those people who worshipped the inventor of fire, they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

One-day man told me saying, “Father… I had a terrible accident once just ten minutes away from my home”. The first thing I did was calling my wife. Then what happened, she did not come? I asked why. She said, “I will come there in forty minutes because I am doing my morning prayers. I do not want to be disturbed. Yes, these people are called, “ Lord… Lord” people. They do not put their faith into practice.

I think I told this event before. A couple who were so faithful and came to church every Sunday without any excuse. But the only thing was they were sitting on the same pew for twenty years. One day they came late to church and their seat was taken. They got so upset and left the church, never came back. These are the people called “ Lord… Lord” people. They do not put their faith into practice.

Then who are the people who put their faith into practice?

One day a lady said to me, “Father, my son is a good man. He does wonderful job for the community. He is right now involved with Haiti, helping the poor there. He goes to Haiti at least once a year” I am so proud of him. But the only thing is he does not come to church or practice his faith.

He helps others out of human needs, not putting his faith into practice.

Then another person said, “ father… my grandchildren are so much involved with fund raising and helping others. They are so wonderful people. They feel the feeling of others and the only thing is they do not believe in God. They do help others. Yes, they are doing out of generosity but not practicing faith.

The danger is when these people are being recognized or not being recognized for their wonderful action, they get easily depressed or disappear because they are like building on the sand but they are people like you who do everything for the glory of God and you are given courage to face any challenge. You are like house on the rock. You do everything for the love of God.

There are only two types of people, people like Charlie sheen and mother Theresa. People like Charlie sheen needs our prayers and thus they may come to know how to build their house on rock and put God in everything they do. Let us pray that they all know how to put their faith into practice. Amen.