Dear friends in Jesus Christ, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. Every time we come to Church, we celebrate the forgiveness of Christ our Lord, we hear Jesus saying that there is no sin that can not be forgiven by Christ our Lord and every time we come to Church, we learn to reconcile with God, others and ourselves.
Once two hunters chattered a plane to fly them into forest territory. Two weeks later, the pilot came to take them back and he looked at the animals they had shot and said, “This plane won’t take more than one wild buffalo. And we have to leave the other behind”
The hunters were not happy and said to the pilot, “But last year, the pilot let us take two wild buffalo in a plane this size”. Then the pilot thought for a while and said, ‘since you did it last year, I think I can do it this year also” So the plane took off with three men and the two wild buffalos. But the plane could not gain height and crashed into a neighboring hill”.
Fortunately the hunters escaped and one hunter looked at the other and said, ‘where do you think we are?” The other said, “I think we are two hundred meters left of where we crashed last year”.
It is human nature to fall again and again into same kind of sin. One day we think and promise to God saying, “I will never do it again and we will be fine for a week or two. Then because of our human condition, we will do it again”. The third Sunday of Lent is all about keeping ourselves pure and clean. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and when we let in bad thoughts, ideas and actions like in Jerusalem temple where people let cattle, sheep, dove and others animals and it becomes like a market place. Because of their worldly approach towards divine things, the place of worship became a place of business and trade. When we do the same thing again and again, we distant ourselves from spiritual things and begin to justify what we are doing.
The Lord came and said, ‘keep my father’s house holy. This is the place of worship and connects yourselves with God and you cannot serve two masters. Take away the unholy things and be holy as your heavenly father is holy”
Once a man came to a spiritual master and said, “I would like to find God. I would like to connect myself with higher being. I want to be satisfied spiritually and please help me” The master looked at him and said, ‘find a way to drop the “I” in you and you will find God and be satisfied spiritually”.
Yes, when we have the courage to leave behind what hinders us to connect ourselves with God, then we make ourselves holy and pure.
Once a disciple came to the master and said, ‘Master, I read the whole bible and so many inspiring spiritual books and I still struggle to find God” The master repeated the famous monastic phrase, “Sit in your cell still and the cell will teach you”. When we are still in the presence of God, we learn more about God, others and about us.
Conclusion:
" You are the body of Christ. " (1 Cor. 12:27)
God, who lives in us as in his own house, can perform miracles, in us and through us, beyond anything we could imagine! Let us think of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, who bore God's presence in her, and who was declared the patroness of all missions, even though she had never left her cloister of Lisieux! If we truly believe, God will make us into apostles who, without leaving our humble workplace, will go throughout the world bearing the presence of God that is so necessary for peace in the world and the salvation of souls!
Let us prepare ourselves for the holy communion we will receive during this Sunday Eucharist, let us not miss our opportunity: let us offer to God a home worthy of Him, without any traffickers or merchants to pollute it. Like Mary who kept the Word of God in her heart as well as in her home, let us welcome the Lord with a pure heart, free of any attachment to creatures, entirely devoted to the things of God, the Father of us all and in us all!
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