26th Sunday-A

26th Sunday- A 

Good morning every one, 

Once a family invited me for lunch and asked "Father, do you like cats and I said, "I am from India and I prefer chicken". They said, "how do you like your chicken?' "Free-ranged, gluten-free fed, organic, curry chicken". And they said, "They would call me back and they never did...I don't know what is wrong with people these days". 

Once a missionary priest went to a distant country to preach and one day as he was going to a village, he had to cross a river. So, he hired a boat and as he was travelling, he looked at the boat man and said, "Are you Catholic?' The man said, "Yes, Father I am Catholic". The missionary said, "What do you know about the Old Testament?" The man said, "I believe in God but I don't know anything about the Old Testament". The missionary said, "That means you lost 20 percent of your life". What about the New Testament and Jesus Christ and the man said, "I believe in Christ and I don't know much about the New Testament. The missionary said, "That means you lost 40 percent of your life" What about the Church and the Sacraments and what about the hierarchy of the Church and the man said, "I don't know anything..." The missionary priest looked at him intently and said, "That means you lost 60 percent of your life" And meantime, the boat was in the middle of the river and through a hole at the bottom of the boat, water began to come into the boat and the boatman knew that the boat was going to sink. So, he looked at the missionary priest and said, "O Father, do you know swimming?' The priest said, "No, I don't know swimming..." Then the boatman looked at the missionary priest and said, "That means you lost hundred percent of your life". 

What I know you may not know and what you know, I may not know. We share talents and ability and thus we build this faith family. After saying this story in one of the parishes, a man after mass said, "O father, do you know swimming.?." And I said, " I also walk on water". Now you know why he never invited me for dinner. 

Life is a struggle between good and bad; light and dark and life and death and so on. And we could easily define and see these distinctions but unfortunately it is not the case with people. It's all started with Adam and Eve. They said, they would obey the commandment of God our Father but they didn't. They went away from His love and kindness and thus the whole human salvation history began to unfold.  

In the time of Christ our Lord, the Pharisees and the Scribes; the elders and the leaders of the Synagogue portraited themselves as God's favored ones. Everybody believed that they were pious and holy and were doing exactly what God commanded them to do. 

Once a man went to a doctor and said, "Doctor, I have a strange headache and I don't know what to do. The doctor did all kinds of tests but there was nothing wrong with him. The man kept complaining and then the doctor finally said, "Now I know what is wrong with you. Your halo is a little tight and I will loosen it up and you will be fine".  

Those Pharisees and the Scribes pretended to be holy. They wanted to be called Rabbi and wanted to be honored and get place of honor but they never did what God commanded them. They loved to stand in front of the temple and screamed at the top of their voices saying, "God, you are so lucky for creating me who is so holy and wonderful. I pray five times a day, fast twice and week and give ten percent of all my income..." 

And Christ our Lord looking at their phoniness and said, "They are like white-washed tombs. They look outside so beautiful but inside full of dead people's bones and filth". They said that they would do the will of God but never did it. 

But on the other hand, there were people like tax-collectors, sinners and prostitutes who refused to do the will of God but when they heard how much God loves and forgives, they immediately changed their minds and did according to God's commandments. 

Once a man shared his story saying, "I used to be an alcoholic and my wife disliked me and my children despised me. I didn't know what to do and then one day, I met one of my friends who said, "you know what I love you the way you are..."When he said that he would love me the way I was, I felt immediate change in me... yes, that is our Lord Jesus Christ, he loves the way we are. Though we refuse and go away from Him and say, "No" to His love. He will never change Himself. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. As we go to Him, He won't change but we will. We will become new creatures. 

Conclusion:  

There is nothing like too late. Even at the last moment, there is salvation. All we have to do is say, "Yes" to Him and He will do the rest. Amen.