Sunday-22 -A

Sunday- 22nd year A 

Good morning every one, I am so happy to welcome you all for today's Holy Mass. Our special welcome to all our parishioners, visitors and every one. 

Last week end as I was leaving the former parish, I looked at them all and said, "If I have offended you in any way or hurt your feelings, all I want to say is, you are too sensitive". 

Once a wife looked her husband and said, "By the way, you are a wonderful man and as I went shopping I saw a beautiful dress and as I was trying it on, the devil whispered to me saying, "That is so beautiful and buy it" and I bought it and it was only $10.000. The husband was shocked and said, "Why did you not tell the devil, "get behind me, Satan". She said, "I did and he said, my dress looked fabulous from behind too". 

Dear friends in Christ Jesus, it's because of Christ, we live, move and have our being and it's because of His life, death and Resurrection, we have life that will never end and it's because of Him, we have meaning and purpose in our life. And as He was foretelling His glorious death and Resurrection, Simon Peter tried to stop Christ from being tortured and killed.  

When Christ called Simon Peter to follow Him, he immediately left everything and followed Him. It's because he experienced the magnetic love and kindness of Christ our Lord.  

When Christ our Lord asked His apostles about what they were saying about Him, it was Simon Peter who came forward in the name of all the apostles and said, "You are Christ the living God. You are the Alpha and Omega and you are the beginning and end and with you everything is possible. 

And when Christ asked them whether they too want to go away from Him, it was Simon Peter who said, "Christ Jesus to whom shall we go?" You have the words of eternal life. 

And that is why as Christ was talking about His suffering, crucifixion and death, Simon Peter tried his best to stop not knowing the mission of Christ and not knowing the divine love and forgiveness of Christ for humanity. 

And then Christ invites us to know the meaning of suffering saying, "If anyone wants to become my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me". 

Once a man prayed to God saying, "God, you know how much I love you but the cross you gave me is too heavy to carry... please help me and do something". That night an angel of the Lord appeared to him and took him to a huge place like an auditorium and there, they were so many different size crosses, big, small, light and heavy and so on. And the angel then looked at him and said, "Now you can pick any cross you want...". The man looked at all the different types of crosses and then he finally picked up a smallest cross and said, "I want to carry this cross". Then the angel laughed at him and said, "This is the cross you were carrying all along".  

Yes, God will not give us anything too heavy to carry. He loves us so much and that is why He sent His only son our Lord Jesus Christ to die for us. Let us have courage and take up our cross and follow Him daily. So, let us carry our crosses and follow Him. Amen.

Keys to the kingdom of God( year A-21)

21st Sunday- A 

Once a rich man announced to a crowd saying, "If any one swims across my swimming pool which is filled with sharks and alligators, I will give you anything you want." By then a man just jumped in the pool and was swimming as fast as he could, avoiding the sharks and alligators and reached the other side safely. The rich man looked at him and said, "you did well...my son, you did well" Now ask me anything you want and I will give it to you. I promise I will give you". The man said, "More than anything, I want to know who pushed me into the water."  Once the famous writer Charles lamb said, "If Shakespeare were to come into the room, we would rise to do him honor and if Christ were to enter this room, we would kneel and bow before Him in worship. It's because He is God and Savior. 

St. Paul to the Galatians says when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Only Son our Lord Jesus Christ, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. The historical profession of faith says that Jesus Christ was born at in Bethlehem at the time of king Herod the great and the emperor Augustus and was crucified under Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He called every day and ordinary people to be His apostles and performed miracles and wonders in the name of God. He said, "The Father and I, are one. No one can go to the Father except through me".  

As Christ came to the non-Jewish region of Caesarea Phillippi asked His disciples about what people thought about Him and then He looked at them and said, "what do you say that I am?" Then the great Simon Peter who comes forward in the name of all other disciples and says, "You are the Messiah, The only Son of God..."  

Then Christ our Lord said to Simon, "O... Simon, son of Johnna, for flesh and blood cannot reveal this to you but by my Father in heaven. Mortal people cannot perceive and understand divine things unless it is given by the divine.   

Our very coming to Church and church's Sacraments help us to enter deeply into the divine mystery and to know that Christ is the Messiah and the Only Son of God. The problem with the world today is the fools are certain of their conviction but spiritual and wise people are full of doubts. 

We should every day join the apostles and say, "Jesus, you are the Son of God, the living Savior. You heal my sickness and restore to health. Because of you, I live, move and have my being. Thank you, Jesus, for making me your instruments". Yes, we should be certain of what we profess and believe. 

As Simon Peter proclaimed the Christ was the living Messiah, Christ our Lord gave the keys to the kingdom of God. Key means responsibility. It is a special call to suffering and facing challenges. It is a special call to accept humiliation and criticism in the name of Christ and His kingdom. 

It's a special call to preach and teach the kingdom of God. One day a spiritual Master went to a small village to preach the Good News and in the beginning, the whole town came to him to listen. But eventually one by one everybody went away from him. Then one day, he was alone standing and preaching. And a passerby looked at him and said, "Before you had people to preach and now there is no one and why are you still preaching?" The preacher said, " Before I preached thinking that people would change and now I preach so that they would not change me" As we are sharing the kingdom of God and His message, your own family members and friends will reject you but please remember, they do not reject the message but you who are better than they are. Rejection itself is a victory and let us spread the Good News. 

We know that we are not given the keys to the kingdom of God but today we are the keys to the kingdom of God. And it's our responsibility to love and forgive others and it's our duty to help others to know God and enter into the kingdom of God because we are blessed and are privileged people to come to Church and celebrate Christ. Amen.

21st sunday- A

21st Sunday-year A 

Once an older man was walking in the street holding hands with a beautiful woman and laughing and joking. The very next week as he went to see his family doctor, he said, "Thank you for your advice. "The doctor said, "What did I say?" You said, "Get a hot mama and be cheerful". The doctor said, "No... all I said was, "you had heart murmur and be careful". 

Once two pigeons were sitting on a pinnacle of a beautiful catholic church and then the little baby pigeon said to his mother, "Mom, what is going on down there and why are people arguing and fighting?" The mother said, "Son, they all believe in Christ but they are Anglicans, Baptists, Pentecostal and so on. They are all divided in the name of Christ and they are fighting to know who is better". Mom, I don't understand these people. Son, we are better than people who fight in the name of Christ and that is why we are up in the sky flying and they are down below fighting. 

Today's readings talk about the universal nature of the kingdom of God. Every living creature belongs to the kingdom of God. Though people are away from God and though people belong to different religions, they all still belong to one God in Christ Jesus. We have one God and one Savior and we have one spirit and one baptism. We are one in Christ Jesus.  

Through the prophet Isaiah, God says that His house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples. In the sight of God, everyone is important and precious and He loves us all without any partiality. 

St. Paul is called the apostle of the gentiles. He says although God sent His son to the chosen people first and since they did not accept Him, then God turned to the gentiles who received mercy through Christ our Lord. 

In the gospel, a Canaanite woman received healing and compassion.  

Once Gandhi who loved the bible and the teaching of the Christ so much wanted to become a Christian and went to church one day and saw how people treated each other and thus he left the church and never went back saying, "I love your Christ but not your Christians" 

Jesus did many amazing things among gentiles who were considered cursed people. For example, the woman whom he met at the well... He changed everything in her life and she became a missionary of the good news.  

What about the Centurian a non- Jew, who came to Christ and said, "Lord, my servant is paralyzed and suffering, please help him" Amazed at his faith, Christ Himself said, "Shall I come to your house?" The Centurian who was filled with faith and hope bowed before the king of the universe Christ our Lord and said, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof but only say the word my servant be healed." 

I have witnessed many non-Christians such as Muslims and Hindus going to Catholic shrines and churches and receiving healing and miracles. 

Christ the Lord the Savior and Good Shepherd is for all and our church is too small to hold Him. And on the other hand, we are so blessed to know Him more and thus receive more blessings and healings. 

Today's Gospel, the Canaanite woman a non-Jew by trusting Him completely receives healing for her child. Yes, as we have faith, we too will experience and witness more miracles and wonders in our lives. 

Conclusion: 

Let us not only experience the miracles and wonders, but we should take the loving message of Christ our Lord to everywhere and thus one day, every one will come to know that Christ is the Lord and God. Amen.