Second Sunday in Lent-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 will begin to change and we will become more spiritual and will 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 man said, "When I play, I play harder. When I work, I work harder and when I pray, I fall a sleep". The German mystic Meister Echhart once said that you should bother less of what you have to do and think more about what you are to Being. If your being is good, then your doing will shine brightly.
Once a rich man was building a tavern a small town and a group of believers 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 come out, one thing is sure and clear. The owner of the building believes in prayer and the church people 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 of 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”.
We often hear how the Muslims pray five times a day, the Hindus pray three times a day and the Budhist praying as often as they can and what about Christians, followers of Christ....Our whole life is a prayer. As St. Paul says, "When we do everything for the glory of God, then our whole life becomes a prayer".
Even today so many spiritual leaders, mystics and holy people as they entered deeply in prayer, begin to experience altered state of conciousness. 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.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Sunday, February 14, 2016
First Sunday in Lent
First Sunday in Lent-C
Once a priest who went for a nice walk in the winter was stopped by a thief. He showed the priest a big knife and demanded his wallet. As the priest was unzipping his winter coat, the thief saw his clerical collar and apologized him saying, "O Father, I am sorry I did not know that you are a priest". Then the priest said, "Shall I offer you a cigarette?" "The thief was shocked and said to the priest, "Oh..I am sorry, father, I gave up smoking for Lent".
Today the Holy Catholic Church enters into the first Sunday of Lent. The season of Lent is usually consisting of forty days of fasting, prayer and works of mercy and charity that began with ash Wednesday when we received holy ashes on our forehead that remined of our dependency on God Almighty. That day we heard the words of the Bible namely ,"O soul, remember, Your body is dust and unto dust, it shall return" and this lenten season concluds at sundown on Holy Thursday. The color of Lent is violet. During these forty days, we closely follow our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and died for our salvation.
Once there lived an amazing farmer in the island of Ireland. He was so happy to spend more time in his field and one day as he was dying, he asked his son to take him to the field where he reached down and clutched some soil onto his hands and died a happy man.
As he was entering into heaven, the angel asked him to let the soil go but he refused, so he was let outside. Thousand years after, the angel again came to him and said, "come into heaven and let the soil go". The farmer again refused. Two thousand years after, when the angel came to him, he decided to let the beloved soil of Ireland go. When he entered into heaven, the first thing, he saw was, his beloved Island Ireland waiting for him in heaven".
What we leave behind for the sake of others and for our own sake and what we sacrifice for the well-being of others, they will always be counted in heaven.
In today's gospel we see how our Lord Jesus Christ the king of the universe spent forty days and forty nights for our salvation and praying and fasting and at the end of fortieth day encoutered Satan who tempted Him.
Christ our Lord encountered three types or kinds of temptation namely physical, spiritual and material.
For the physical temptation, Christ our Lord said, “One does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God”.
Once a man who wanted to become a monk was adviced to do some reflection and meditation on his special call. while he was sitting comfortably to do so, he saw a beautiful woman walking by, and was distracted. The next day, he closed his eyes and was doing his meditation but he heard her walking by and was distracted again. The next day, he closed his eyes and ears and as she was walking by, he could smell her. So he covered his head with a brown bag and was doing his meditation. Time went by, when it was ten o’clock, his mind began to act out saying, this is the time, she supposed to walk by. where is she? where is she?
physical desire can stop us from loving God and his immense glory. And this season helps us to rethink our physical desires and if they stop us from going to God, we should improve ourselves during this season.
The second one is spiritual temptation. And Christ our Lord said, “Do not tempt God your Father”.
Once there was a religious man who prayed five times a day and fasted three times a week and did every thing according to the commandments of the Lord and one day as he was walking on a river bank, he fell in the water and cried to God saying, God help me. Then came fire fighters and then police and people to help him but he refused saying, ’God will come and help me”. But God did not come, he drowned. when he went to heaven, he said God how come you did not come to help me. God said, I was the one who sent all those people to help you but you refused. Do not tempt your Father. The difference between religious and spiritual people is religious people look for miracles but spiritual people become miralcles for others.
The third temptation of Christ is the mateiral one and to that Christ said, ’Worship the Lord and serve only Him”.
one day a man met with his friend who looked sad and he asked why. He said you know my uncle who died a week ago and left with me a million dollar. yes you suppose to be happy and why are you sad because the other uncle who died two days ago also left me a million. wow now you have two millions and you should be happy and why are you looking sad. The man said I am sad becasue I do not have any more uncle to die.
material things will never fill the heart of a person. When we serve God and God alone, we will be given everything. Let us take advantage of this season and fill our hearts with love and kindness; with happiness and joy and thus become new and say no to our old self. There is a saying, "Satan tempts people and idle people tempt Satan". Let us keep ourselves busy of improving spiritually and find God. Amen.
Once a priest who went for a nice walk in the winter was stopped by a thief. He showed the priest a big knife and demanded his wallet. As the priest was unzipping his winter coat, the thief saw his clerical collar and apologized him saying, "O Father, I am sorry I did not know that you are a priest". Then the priest said, "Shall I offer you a cigarette?" "The thief was shocked and said to the priest, "Oh..I am sorry, father, I gave up smoking for Lent".
Today the Holy Catholic Church enters into the first Sunday of Lent. The season of Lent is usually consisting of forty days of fasting, prayer and works of mercy and charity that began with ash Wednesday when we received holy ashes on our forehead that remined of our dependency on God Almighty. That day we heard the words of the Bible namely ,"O soul, remember, Your body is dust and unto dust, it shall return" and this lenten season concluds at sundown on Holy Thursday. The color of Lent is violet. During these forty days, we closely follow our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and died for our salvation.
Once there lived an amazing farmer in the island of Ireland. He was so happy to spend more time in his field and one day as he was dying, he asked his son to take him to the field where he reached down and clutched some soil onto his hands and died a happy man.
As he was entering into heaven, the angel asked him to let the soil go but he refused, so he was let outside. Thousand years after, the angel again came to him and said, "come into heaven and let the soil go". The farmer again refused. Two thousand years after, when the angel came to him, he decided to let the beloved soil of Ireland go. When he entered into heaven, the first thing, he saw was, his beloved Island Ireland waiting for him in heaven".
What we leave behind for the sake of others and for our own sake and what we sacrifice for the well-being of others, they will always be counted in heaven.
In today's gospel we see how our Lord Jesus Christ the king of the universe spent forty days and forty nights for our salvation and praying and fasting and at the end of fortieth day encoutered Satan who tempted Him.
Christ our Lord encountered three types or kinds of temptation namely physical, spiritual and material.
For the physical temptation, Christ our Lord said, “One does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God”.
Once a man who wanted to become a monk was adviced to do some reflection and meditation on his special call. while he was sitting comfortably to do so, he saw a beautiful woman walking by, and was distracted. The next day, he closed his eyes and was doing his meditation but he heard her walking by and was distracted again. The next day, he closed his eyes and ears and as she was walking by, he could smell her. So he covered his head with a brown bag and was doing his meditation. Time went by, when it was ten o’clock, his mind began to act out saying, this is the time, she supposed to walk by. where is she? where is she?
physical desire can stop us from loving God and his immense glory. And this season helps us to rethink our physical desires and if they stop us from going to God, we should improve ourselves during this season.
The second one is spiritual temptation. And Christ our Lord said, “Do not tempt God your Father”.
Once there was a religious man who prayed five times a day and fasted three times a week and did every thing according to the commandments of the Lord and one day as he was walking on a river bank, he fell in the water and cried to God saying, God help me. Then came fire fighters and then police and people to help him but he refused saying, ’God will come and help me”. But God did not come, he drowned. when he went to heaven, he said God how come you did not come to help me. God said, I was the one who sent all those people to help you but you refused. Do not tempt your Father. The difference between religious and spiritual people is religious people look for miracles but spiritual people become miralcles for others.
The third temptation of Christ is the mateiral one and to that Christ said, ’Worship the Lord and serve only Him”.
one day a man met with his friend who looked sad and he asked why. He said you know my uncle who died a week ago and left with me a million dollar. yes you suppose to be happy and why are you sad because the other uncle who died two days ago also left me a million. wow now you have two millions and you should be happy and why are you looking sad. The man said I am sad becasue I do not have any more uncle to die.
material things will never fill the heart of a person. When we serve God and God alone, we will be given everything. Let us take advantage of this season and fill our hearts with love and kindness; with happiness and joy and thus become new and say no to our old self. There is a saying, "Satan tempts people and idle people tempt Satan". Let us keep ourselves busy of improving spiritually and find God. Amen.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Fifth Sunday-C
Fifth Sunday in year C
Once after Mass, a pious lady met with the priest and she was crying uncontrollably. The priest looked at her and said, "is that anything wrong? I never sawd you being sad and crying. what happened? O Father, My husband died last night. I am so sorry to hear that. did he have any last wish or saying. yes, Father he did. what did he say. what was his last word. he looked
at me and said, "O Maria, put down that damn gun".
Today's gospel passage brings out the complete mission of Christ our Lord. Right after His baptism at Jordan, our Lord Jesus Christ comes to the lake shore of Gennesaret and there He preaches the Good News of Salvation. Though there were thousands of rabbis in the time of Jesus; though there were so many teachers of the temple and synogogue in the time of Christ and though there were many spiritual and religious leaders at that time, people did not go to them. People were not drawn or attracted to them because they taught people about a God of punishment and fear. But on the other hand, Christ our Lord showed them all the father-God, God who is full of compassion and love, about a God who is slow to anger and ready to forgive. And that is why the crowd was pressing in on Christ.
once a dad and his son were travelling to a distant country by a ship that encountered a big cyclone. The son got so afraid and looked at his dad who was confortably sleeping. He woke his dad up and said, "Dad, are you not afraid that we are going to be perished. we are going to die". The dad laughed at him and said, "Son, God will look after us. you do not need to be afraid. Just believe in Him". The son was not happy to hear that. Then the dad took a knife and tried to kill his son. The son was not afraid of his dad at all. So the dad askey him why. The son said it is because you are my dad and you are not going to kill me. Then the dad said, "Son, God is our Father and why are you afraid of the things that happen around us?. He will never abandon us. And Jesus was talking about that God and asked them to call that God Father.
After preaching the love and kindness of God our father to people, He said to Simon Peter, "Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch" He answed Christ saying, "O Master, all night long we tried our best and we did not get anything at all. Since you are the light of the world and you say so, I will let the nets down".
First Christ our Lord was preaching people the good news and now we see how he is teaching Simon and others about the secret of trusting God. As we put our complete trust in the Lord, miracles will happen, not one miracle or two but thousands and thousands of miracles will happen to us every day.
Once a man was saying his friend, "I got lost in the desert for three days and knelt before God and prayed for his help". " Did God come and help you?" The man said, "NO, before He could, an explorer showed up and helped me the way"
Miracles are happening every day but we are incapable of recognizing them.
As Simon Peter listened to Christ, Miracles happened and there he instantly realized his humanness, his human weakness and knelt before Christ and said, "Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man". But out of love, He calls them to become aposltes of the Good News. He calls them to become fishers of people.
Once a man met with the spiritual master and said, "Last night God appeared to me and said that you have the precious stone that would make me the richest man in town. Please give me that stone". The master took a stone from his pocket and gave it to him saying, "I found it one the road. Take it and it is yours". The man was happy to receive the stone. The next day, the man came to the spiritual master and said, "I reflected all day long and found the truth. Keep this stone and please give me the riches that made you to give away this stone".
As Simon and others realized their humanness and limited human frailties, Christ our Lord showed them the way to catch people. The true riches of being with Christ and helping others to know the kindgdom of god.
Dear friends, we are too given to the true riches to be with Christ and enjoy His love and forgiveness. We are blessed becasue we are here listening to His divine words and experiencing His presence among us. And we are also called to become fishers of people namely spreading the good news of salvation to all. We are as we celebrate the year of mercy asked to be merciful like the Father. God bless.
Once after Mass, a pious lady met with the priest and she was crying uncontrollably. The priest looked at her and said, "is that anything wrong? I never sawd you being sad and crying. what happened? O Father, My husband died last night. I am so sorry to hear that. did he have any last wish or saying. yes, Father he did. what did he say. what was his last word. he looked
at me and said, "O Maria, put down that damn gun".
Today's gospel passage brings out the complete mission of Christ our Lord. Right after His baptism at Jordan, our Lord Jesus Christ comes to the lake shore of Gennesaret and there He preaches the Good News of Salvation. Though there were thousands of rabbis in the time of Jesus; though there were so many teachers of the temple and synogogue in the time of Christ and though there were many spiritual and religious leaders at that time, people did not go to them. People were not drawn or attracted to them because they taught people about a God of punishment and fear. But on the other hand, Christ our Lord showed them all the father-God, God who is full of compassion and love, about a God who is slow to anger and ready to forgive. And that is why the crowd was pressing in on Christ.
once a dad and his son were travelling to a distant country by a ship that encountered a big cyclone. The son got so afraid and looked at his dad who was confortably sleeping. He woke his dad up and said, "Dad, are you not afraid that we are going to be perished. we are going to die". The dad laughed at him and said, "Son, God will look after us. you do not need to be afraid. Just believe in Him". The son was not happy to hear that. Then the dad took a knife and tried to kill his son. The son was not afraid of his dad at all. So the dad askey him why. The son said it is because you are my dad and you are not going to kill me. Then the dad said, "Son, God is our Father and why are you afraid of the things that happen around us?. He will never abandon us. And Jesus was talking about that God and asked them to call that God Father.
After preaching the love and kindness of God our father to people, He said to Simon Peter, "Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch" He answed Christ saying, "O Master, all night long we tried our best and we did not get anything at all. Since you are the light of the world and you say so, I will let the nets down".
First Christ our Lord was preaching people the good news and now we see how he is teaching Simon and others about the secret of trusting God. As we put our complete trust in the Lord, miracles will happen, not one miracle or two but thousands and thousands of miracles will happen to us every day.
Once a man was saying his friend, "I got lost in the desert for three days and knelt before God and prayed for his help". " Did God come and help you?" The man said, "NO, before He could, an explorer showed up and helped me the way"
Miracles are happening every day but we are incapable of recognizing them.
As Simon Peter listened to Christ, Miracles happened and there he instantly realized his humanness, his human weakness and knelt before Christ and said, "Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man". But out of love, He calls them to become aposltes of the Good News. He calls them to become fishers of people.
Once a man met with the spiritual master and said, "Last night God appeared to me and said that you have the precious stone that would make me the richest man in town. Please give me that stone". The master took a stone from his pocket and gave it to him saying, "I found it one the road. Take it and it is yours". The man was happy to receive the stone. The next day, the man came to the spiritual master and said, "I reflected all day long and found the truth. Keep this stone and please give me the riches that made you to give away this stone".
As Simon and others realized their humanness and limited human frailties, Christ our Lord showed them the way to catch people. The true riches of being with Christ and helping others to know the kindgdom of god.
Dear friends, we are too given to the true riches to be with Christ and enjoy His love and forgiveness. We are blessed becasue we are here listening to His divine words and experiencing His presence among us. And we are also called to become fishers of people namely spreading the good news of salvation to all. We are as we celebrate the year of mercy asked to be merciful like the Father. God bless.
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