2lent-C

Good morning everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we get closer to God Almighty through prayer and every time we come to Church, because of our sincere prayer, our appearance begin to change and we become more spiritual and begin to reflect Christ in our every day activities. Every time we come to Church, we hear God saying, “you are my beloved child and with you I am so happy”

Once a mother saw his son being bad and asked him to pray to God so that god could change him. After his prayer the mother looked at him and said, ‘did you pray to God to make you good’ the boy said, ‘no, I prayed for you so that God can give you enough strength to put up with me.
Once a rich man was building a liquor store and bar in a small town and a group of Christians from a local church were worried and thus they planned an all- night prayer meeting to ask god to intervene. Then a shocking thing happened. Lighting struck the building and destroyed it completely. The rich man sued the church saying, “because of their prayer, my building was struck by lighting” and the Christian said, ‘No, not because of our prayers”. Then the judge finally looked at them both and said, “No matter how this case is going to out, one thing is clear. The owner of the building believes in prayer and the Christians don’t”
Once some people looked at Mother Theresa and said, “Mother, when you pray what do you say to God?” Mother said, ‘I don’t say anything. I just listen”. Then they asked, ‘what does God say to you as you listen?” She again looked at them and smiled and said, “He doesn’t talk either”. He listens.
Prayer means communion, being with God. It is being one with God. It is having a holy experience.
Prayer helps to identify good from evil. It helps us to say, “no” to sin and Satan. For example, last weekend gospel, as Jesus was finishing His forty days and forty nights prayer and fasting, He was tempted by Satan. We saw how He said No to Satan and yes to the love of God. It is because of His prayer, everything happened. As we deeply enter into prayer life, we will know how to say no to temptations and evil and says to the love of God.
And in today’s gospel, Jesus goes to a mountain with His three disciples and while He was praying to His father God, another important change happened in Him and around Him. His appearance began to change. He becomes full of light and because of that change, His clothes became dazzling white. There the disciples witnessed How Moses and Elijah came to Christ and they were talking to Him. Then they hear a voice from heaven saying to them, ‘this is my beloved Son with whom I am so happy, listen to Him and him alone”.

Even today so many spiritual leaders, mystics and holy people as they entered deeply in prayer, begin to experience altered state of conciseness. It is one of the qualities of prayer. A person who spends time in prayer knows how to separate good from evil and he begins to experience the oneness of body and soul and thus his appearance will change, his surrounding will change. People who are with him will know that he is a man of prayer and though they do not spend time in prayer or doing diving things, they too experience god in their daily lives.

Conclusion: Dear friends, as we celebrate the season of lent, we are called to get closer to god, and we are called to know that we belong to God. Yes, the Lenten observances of prayer, fasting and works of charity help us to do so. So let us pray without ceasing for us and for others. Amen.

First Sunday in Lent-C

Good morning everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for the first Sunday in Lent. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we are given a special blessing to say “No’ to our temptations and “yes” to the love and kindness of God our Father in Christ our Lord. Every time we come to Church, we hear Christ our Lord saying to us that, “We do not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” And every time we come to Church, we are called to know and serve God alone.

Once there lived an old man in an island. He loved his island so much. He saw God’s loving presence in every moving and unmoving things. Then one day, as he was dying, he called his children and said, put me outside and I want to see, smell and touch the land while I die. And as he about to die, he reached down by his side and clutched some soil onto his hand and died as a happy man.

And before entering into heaven, the angel came out to welcome him saying, “You who are chosen by the father enter into the kingdom of God prepared for you”. As the angel opened the gates, the angel noticed that the old man was holding on something in his hand and asked what it was. He said, ‘I loved my island so much and I brought some soil from there”. The angel said, ‘that is wonderful but in order to enter into heaven, you have to let the soil go” But the man refused. He was left outside at the gate. He was there for ten years and then one day the angel came and asked what he decided. He said, ‘I love my island so much and I cannot let the soil go” so he was left again ten more years. Then one day the angel of the lord came and asked his decision and he said, ‘now I am a very old man and I do realize that I have to let certain things go to enter into heaven. I am strong now to say “No’ to my temptations. There he dropped the soil and entered into heaven. When he entered into heaven, the first thing he saw was his beautiful island waiting for him.

Dear friends these forty days of lent invite us to say once again “NO” to our temptations and say, “YES” to lord our God. Christ our Lord after His baptism at Jordan where every heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son with whom I am so happy and pleased, listen to Him’ was let by the spirit in the wilderness and there in the desert Christ our Lord spent forty days and forty nights in prayer and fasting. On the fortieth day, the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, change this stone into bread and satisfy your huger’. The devil knew that He was the only Son of God and he tried to stop the salvation mission of Christ our Lord.

What is sin? Sin is what one does against God, others and oneself. And in today’s gospel, the devil was tempting Jesus to go against God, others and himself.

Yes, he asked Jesus to change the stone into bread and thus to go against God’s divine will and the devil then showed Christ the whole universe in an instant and asked him to obey him, Jesus was tempted to have authority over all people and go against others and Christ said that he came to serve only God. Yes, Christ came to serve and not to be served. Then the devil asked him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, asked him to go against his own will but Christ our Lord said, ‘do not tempt the Lord our God”

Dear friends, we are called these forty days to have our desert experience doing prayer, fasting and penance. These Lenten observances help to say “no” to sin and temptations and “Yes” to Christ’s love and kindness. So let us leave behind things that hinder us from loving God, others and ourselves and submit ourselves to God almighty. Amen.