Canada day (homily on healing)

Canada day-homily (13th Sunday)

Good evening/morning everyone. I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass and our special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and everyone who is here today. Dear friends, every time we come to church we celebrate the healing power of Christ our Lord, we experience His healing power in our lives and every time we come to church, we become healers and bring His loving message to all.


When I came to Canada two hundred years ago, a priest took me to a parish and left me there saying, ‘I will come back in a week’. And to be honest with you, I was so confused saying to myself, “why am I in a French speaking parish. I thought I would go to an English speaking place”. A week later, when the priest came I asked him about it and he laughed and laughed and said, ‘you are in an English speaking parish. You don’t understand them because they have a thick Canadian accent”.


You should understand the difference between Canadian and Americans. If anyone says, “a… it is nice”. They are Americans and the Canadian would say, “it is nice a”.
As we celebrate Canada day today, we thank God for our country and we also meditate on the healing power of Christ our Lord.
In today’s gospel we meet with one of the famous synagogue leaders called Jairus. He came to Jesus kneeling before Him saying, ‘Jesus, have mercy on me. My only child is at the point of death. If you come and lay your hand on her, I believe she will live”. Jesus our Saviour who never says “no” to anyone said, ‘yes, I will’. While going to his house, He healed so many people and before entering into his house, the man’s family, friends, relatives came and said to him, “ do not disturb the Lord because your child is dead’. While Jairus was sad and crying, Jesus said, ‘do not be afraid. Only believe. She is sleeping and alive” When people heard that the child was sleeping, they all laughed at Christ and began to criticize him. Jesus our Lord went into the house and touching the child said, ‘Talitha cum” means my little child, get up”.


In this miracle not only the child got up. Something more happened. Yes, Jairus got up from his sleep, the people got up from their sleep and we are especially called to get up from our sleep and believe in the Lord Christ’.
What happened to Jairus?
Jairus was a famous synagogue leader and he had power more like a centurion in the gospels who said to Jesus, If I say to one, go and He goes and if I say to him, do and he does it. Though I have all the powers, I cannot restore a person to health or life. Jesus you have the power. I believe in you. Yes, though Jairus was a synagogue leader, he did not have divine power to restore anyone to life. When he came to Jesus and submitted himself to Jesus saying, ‘please heal my child, my daughter is at the point of death’. Jesus was amazed at his faith saying, ‘I will’.
When we personally witness the faith of others, we are some times amazed. They may belong to any religion but they way they pray and believe in God inspire us. Once I visited a priest in Mississauga. While we were having lunch at the rectory, a man who was helping in the kitchen left in the middle of our lunch and did not show up for a while. Meantime the priest looked at me and said, ‘His name is Mohamed a Muslim. Do you know where he went? He went to pray. According to Islam, a good Muslim should pray to God five times a day. Though he was working in a Catholic Church rectory, he prayed five times a day to God.
Then I was thinking, if we who believe in true God, the God who created heaven and earth, who sent His Only Son Jesus to us and ask Him for anything, how much more we get it. Our God promises to give us the Holy Spirit- the gift of life.
That is why when Jairus came to Christ acknowledging the one true God; He was instantly healed of his doubts and failures. He got up from his sleep and came to know that Jesus was the Only Son of God the Savior.
The people got up from their sleep
The people who said that Jairus should not bother the Master because his child was dead and the people who laughed at Christ for him saying, ‘the child is not dead. She is sleeping” the people who criticized and went away from Him, when they saw what happened to the child, they all got up from their sleep saying, ‘Jesus, you are the master, the eternal king. You have the words of eternal life. We believe in you. And with you everything is possible”.
Once a group of people went to Jesus to become His disciples, he chose only a few to become His disciples saying, ‘many are called but few are chosen’ and He gave them power and authority to preach the Good News and heal the sick. Today there are so many people call themselves Catholics but only few are coming to church and practicing their faith like you. You are His chosen people. And when you believe, you will experience His healing.

Today we are called to get up from our sleep and experience the healing power of Christ.
Once a man went to a psychiatrist and said, ‘Doctor, my brother thinks that he is a chicken. For how long he has been thinking this way? For six months. Then how come you did not come before? It is because we needed the eggs.
Getting up from our sleep means extending ourselves to help others and showing others compassion and kindness and helping others to know Christ. Amen. Today as we celebrate Canada day, there is a special blessing for you and please kneel now.

The birth of John the Baptist

 

Good evening/morning everyone, I am so happy to see you all and my special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and every one who is here today. Dear friends every time we come to church we celebrate the love of God through Christ our Lord in the Holy Spirit; every time we come to church we become like John the Baptist who prepared the way of the Lord and every time we come to church, we become new in Christ our Lord.

Today the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist. John who prepared the way of the Lord and on the day of Jesus’ baptism, called everyone and pointing Christ said, ‘Behold the lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the Lord’.

Today on the day of John the Baptist’s birth, I invite you all to meditate upon the amazing act of God almighty.

Once I met with a man who shared a miracle that happened to him saying, “ Father, I never answer the phone at home. My wife looked after the communication department and that day, the phone rang and rang and my wife did not answer and I kind of had a strange feeling and got off the chair and answered. My son was on the phone saying, “ dad, for some reason I wanted to call and talk to you and I said and for some reason I wanted to answer too’ while we were talking, a huge tree from our front yard broke and fell on the chair where I was sitting. I think I witnessed a miracle happened to me.

The second one is about a man who used to go for a walk over ten year on a beach and that day though he felt so good and strong, he had a feeling and did not go. But by 8.00 o’clock, he heard the news that huge tsunami hit the Indian ocean and about thousand people died in that city alone and most of the people who died were who went for a walk that day and that man did not go for a walk that day and he said, “ a miracle happened to me’

And a third one is about a man who had a strange feeling one night and about two o’clock in the morning he got out of the bed and went to have a glass of water in the kitchen. While he was getting the water, a drunken man drove his truck into his bedroom and smashed the bed into million pieces. He said, ‘ a miracle happened to me”

And I had a chance to meet them all and when I asked why miracle happened to them. They all revealed one secret. Yes, they all kept one thing in common in their lives, a secret that saved them all.

In today’s gospel, we see a miracle happening to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Though they were in their advanced age, God blessed them with a child. Nothing is impossible with our loving God. When Blessed Virgin Mary doubted about the birth of Jesus, the Angel Gabriel said, ‘ look at your cousin Elizabeth, in her old age, almighty blessed her with the child. Then our Blessed Mary began to sing the Glory of God saying, ‘ My Soul glorifies the lord and my spirit

Rejoice in God Almighty…’

When people who were amazed at the marvel of God asked Elizabeth what name she was going to give him thinking about the family tradition. According to their culture, the first-born male child should be named about his father, Elizabeth said, ‘ John’. They were so shocked and were surprised saying to each other, why can we ask Zechariah his dad. Zechariah who used to tablet wrote the name John.

One after another many miracles happened that day. Every one began to praise and glorify God almighty. Miracles happened to Zechariah and Elizabeth because they too had some secret.

What Zechariah and Elizabeth had, those three people who experienced miracles in their lives had too. They all had a secret, a very simple one. We all know and some of you are practicing that secret at home.

The secret they all had is “Family prayer”. Though they practiced their faith in common place and were involved with many community activities, they never forget to pray together at home. They did their family prayer. They drew energy, spiritual strength from their family prayer. They read the bible together, they prayed and listened to God together.

Dear friends, when there is family prayers at home, miracles will happen, not one or two but millions and millions.

Where there is family prayer, nothing can separate parents from children or husband from wife or family from relatives or from friends. Family prayer becomes glue that unites family together and brings more miracles every day. So as we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, let us renew our baptismal promises asking Christ to help us to begin our family prayers at home every day. Amen.

Father's day

FATHER’S DAY




Good morning/evening everyone, I am so happy to see you all and my special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and every one who are here today. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we celebrate the kingdom of God, celebrate the Father God who sent His Only Son Jesus Christ to preach the kingdom of God and every time we come to Church, we celebrate Jesus who gave us the blessing to call God Father.

As we celebrate Father’s day, I invite you all to meditate upon the graciousness and mercy of God our Father and thank Him for giving us generous and kind fathers who dedicate and sacrifice their time, energy and resource to make us strong, wonderful and responsible citizens in the world.

One day on father’s day, two sons decided to do something to their fathers and they pooled all their money and bought a beautiful religious horse for him. It was religious because when anyone says, “Amen”, the horse will stand still and if it hears, “praise the Lord” will run like anything else. It was well trained to the two words Amen and praise the Lord. The sons gave the horse to their dad and explained the meaning of amen and praise the lord. Amen means it will stop, stand still and praise the lord means it will run. The dad thanked them and jumped on the horse and the horse began to run so fast and at one point, he forgot what to say, the horse was running so fast and went on a hill. The man got so afraid and thank god he remembered the word. He screamed saying, “Amen” the horse stopped on the edge of the cliff. He was so happy and then he thanked god saying, “Praise the Lord”.

The Father God is our creator and when He breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of people, life began. Adam and Eve began their spiritual journey on earth. But as they went away from God, their life source was taken away from them; they experienced suffering, pain, sickness and eventually death. But God who loves His creatures so much sent His son who again breathed on the disciples saying, ‘ Receive the Holy Spirit” and thus life was restored and that life is still continuing through people. Yes, God calls men in a special way to continue His creation activity. Continuing His creation activity demands tremendous spiritual responsibility. They have to sacrifice and dedicate themselves more than hundred percent to protect their family and raise their children holy. Where can they draw energy to do so? They can draw spiritual energy and strength only from God. On this father’s day, we especially thank God for our fathers for their dedication and sacrifice and ask God to bless them.

One day a dad helped his son to go to bed saying, “ Son, do not bother me any longer. The lights are off, just sleep’ but within five minutes the son called saying, ‘dad, I want a glass of water’. The dad said, “you had your chance, now go to bed” Five minutes later again, “dad, I want a glass of water’. The dad was so annoyed and said, “if you ask for water again, you will get a good spank” the son called again and said, ‘Dad, when you come to spank me, bring me a glass of water’.

In the gospels, Jesus says how much even the mortal fathers love their children saying, if you ask for fish, will he give you a snake, will he give you a stone instead of bread. They know how to give you good things. Yes, fathers know how to protect and love their children. Because of the earthly fathers, children learn to love more and more the heavenly Fathers. As Jesus says, They come to know, even the mortal fathers know how to give good gifts to children how much more the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit the life to those who ask Him. That is why Jesus says, “Ask, you will receive, search, you will find and knock the door will be opened”.

Father is the one who knows the meaning of forgiveness and acceptance. Though his children are like prodigal son going away from him, wasting their lives and living an immoral life but when they come back to him saying, ‘dad, I am sorry. Please forgive me”. They will never get mad at them, instead he will accept them immediately saying to every one, “my son or my daughter was lost and now they are found. They were dead and now they are alive”

Conclusion: As we celebrate father’s day, let us thank God for fathers who raise their children strong and religious and who dedicate their lives for their family and children. May God bless them. Now let us have a special prayer for them. Amen.

Holy Trinity Sunday

Holy Trinity Sunday


Good evening/morning every one. I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. My special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and every one who is here today, dear friends every time we come to Church we celebrate God Almighty the creator of the universe the source of all. Every time we come to Church, we celebrate Christ, the Only Son of God the Alpha and Omega- the beginning and the end. And every time we come to Church we celebrate the Holy Spirit the giver of life. Yes, we celebrate the Father God, the Son God and the Holy Spirit God not three gods but Only One God.

One day Jesus looked at His disciples at Caesarea Philippi and asked, “Who do people say that I am?” They said, “ You are Elisa, Elijah, John the Baptist and one of the prophets”. And then He asked them “ who do you say that I am?”They said, “Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to His creation. But only on the fact of Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, the trinity”

Jesus looked at them and said, ‘What?’

Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates the solemn feast of Holy Trinity Sunday. Yes, we celebrate the triune God, the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God but there are not three gods but only one God our Father. And that is why every time we begin any celebration, we begin with the sign of the Cross saying, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’.

The Father is God
Once a cat died and went to heaven. God welcome the cat and said, “you were a good cat for years and anything you desire is yours”. The cat said, ‘Dear God, though I lived my life, I did not sleep well because of the rough floor and God in an instant made a fluffy pillow. And few days’ later six mice that were killed in an accident appeared in heaven. God welcomed them and said, “this is heaven and whatever you desire is yours” they said, ‘Dear God, all our lives everyone chased us around and please give us roller skates and we will be happier” God gave them tiny roller skates so that they could run around happily. Thus everyone was happy in heaven. Then one day God looked at the cat and asked, “ How are you doing now?” The cat said, ‘God, thank you very much for everything and by the way the meals on wheels are delicious”. The Father is God and in the beginning God created heaven and earth and all and then He saw everything was good and was happy. Even the children of God who went away from Him had a deep longing to find Him. The Father who knew their children revealed Himself in various ways. The kings and holy men and women in the Old Testament talked about God and His compassionate fatherly love. Though the Old Testament is the preparation of the coming of the Son, it is all about the Father and His loving relationship with His children. The Father God who is the Creator brings life to all. The Father God is not like a god who is ready to punish and judge His children; he is more like the Father in the prodigal son story waiting for His son come home and when he comes home, there will be only unending celebration.

The Son Jesus Christ is God
Once a man was walking on a beach deep in prayer, he had a vision and heard Jesus saying to him, ‘you had always been faithful to me, and ask a favor and it will be granted”. The man said, ‘would you please make a bridge to Hawaii so that I could drive there and enjoy…” then he got a reply in vision saying, ‘there going to be many natural resources being destroyed to build a bridge… ask something else”. The man said “ I wished I could understand my wife, know her feelings, what she wants and why she gives me the silent treatment often and fulfill her wants and needs…” There came an answer right away asking, “You want two lanes or four lanes on that bridge”.

Dear friends, Our Christ the Lord often talks about His Father and the Holy Spirit. When the disciples asked the Lord to show the Father, He said, ‘you have been with me all the time and how can you ask me to show the Father. Do you not know that the Father and I are one? The Father knows me and I know Him. No one can go to the Father except through me. It is the Father who sent me here. Jesus came to us when the Father was busting out of love. He loves us so much and that is why He sent His Only Son Jesus to us. Jesus the redeemer showed the way to the Father. The Son is also the Father because the both are the same.

The third person the Holy Spirit is God
Once a mom was explaining her son the gifts of the Holy Spirit saying going to school getting knowledge and wisdom are all comes from the Holy Spirit and asked what he did that day in school. He said my teacher taught me how to write. Wow that is wonderful. What did you write? He said, “I don’t know because my teacher didn’t teach me how to read yet?’

The Old Testament talks more about the Father God, the New Testament talks more about the Son God and the Act of the Apostles talks more about the Holy Spirit God. As Jesus promised before His ascension sent the Holy Spirit on the apostles and on all the believers and because of the power of the divine gift, they went everywhere and preach the Good News to all. The Holy Spirit remained them everything that Jesus preached and taught them and thus sanctified them.

Conclusion:

There is a beautiful story explained the Holy Trinity by our patron saint Patrick. When a group of people came to him and asked about the holy trinity, St. Patrick picked up a shamrock and told them how the three gloves are connected with each other and are distinct from one another likewise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are connected and are distinct. They are one and the same. When we pray to the Father, we pray also to the Son and the Spirit, so let us adore the triune God and experience love and kindness and spread that love to all. Amen.