Vine and branches

I'm the vine and you are the branches.

our special welcome to all our visitors today, there is a technical term for a beautiful bright day which follows two rainy and nasty days, it's called "Monday".
Once there was a famous priest who did miracles and wonders and a man came to him and said, "please, father pray for my hearing". The priest, right away, stretched out his hands and touched the man's ears and prayed for 45 minutes and then asked him, "how is your hearing and how is your hearing?' the man said, "oh father, my hearing isn't until next week'. The man then came home and said to his wife, 'you won't believe. I came home all the way running behind a bus and saved $2. The wife got so mad and said, 'why did you not run behind a taxi and save $20.
Friends in Christ Jesus, today our Canadian society faces one of the biggest challenges of all, that is isolation and loneliness. there are more than 25 percent of our population lives alone and even parents, spouses and children live as strangers to each other. The sad thing is children are living so isolated. they have to deal their problems on their own. they eat alone, play alone and meet their challenges alone.
But on the other hand, we who believe in Christ and we who practice our faith are so blessed. though we live alone, we are not lonely. Yes, God is with us and the risen christ is with us. And king David says, the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall i fear and the lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom should i be afraid. We have God with us and we will always be comforted. And Jean Paul Satre says, "If you feel lonely when you are alone, then you are in bad company".
God is with us and as long as we are with christ, we will be happy and fulfilled. we are called to be attached with Christ the lifeline, the source of all and the vine.
There is a story about a blind man who had a guide dog. Because of the dog, he did everything well. he moved everywhere freely. As we know familiarity breeds contempt. he never treated the dog well. he kicked, pulled and pushed the dog. the people really felt bad for the dog and one day, they unleashed the dog and let it go. the blind man was left alone and stuck in one place. some days later, the people came to see what happened to him and upon seeing him, they were so shocked because the dog returned to the blind man. the story ended with the question. who is blind? The man or the dog. the story was even titled as blind dog.
love, pure love never seeks perfection and that is way we see so many people especially married couples fighting and arguing with each other and still loving to death. once a couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. that evening the old man said to his wife. honey i am so proud of you. what? i can not hear you. you know i cannot hear without hearing aid. speak louder. i said i am proud of you. what? i am so proud of you. That is all right, i am tired of you too.
God is so loving and that is we see in the bible. The bible is called the love story of God. man falls and God lifts him up and man denies and god stays so faithful and man goes away from him and God get closer to him and man sins over and over again and God sends his son to save us. Yes, God is so loving and as we connect with Christ, we come to know that we are his. and as long as we are attached with him, our happines and joy and our peace and harmony multiplies thousandfold.
This real event happened in the last 1980s on the lower side of manhattan. a beautiful big new office building was completely destroyed by fire. when the fire alarm went off, people got out of the building quickly and in order and the fire trucks and fire men came in plenty of time and still though every thing was in order, could not save the building. it is because the city water line had never been connected to the building's fire-system. though everything was well, they forgot to connect with the main source.
what if we gain the whole world and forfeit or lose our soul and what if we make all the money in the world but happiness and what if we build huge house and no peace.
As long as we are connected with Christ, we feel fulfilled and happy  and if not, life becomes a big waste.
if we follow closely people who dedicate their time, energy and resources for the well being of their community and their country within five to ten years, they easily disappear. it's because of mental and physical exhaustion. they are easily drained of their energy. They did not have any energy to draw from. when they are not connected with the line line namely God, they will not bear much fruit.
I remember visiting a woman dying of cancer. she was a wonderful and doing so much for the parish and as i visited her, i said, "let us pray the rosary together". what she said shocked me. she said, "i don't know how to say the rosary". what is the point of involving in everything and not looking after our spiritual life. Without healthy spiritual life, our physical life will become so weak.
these days we once again talk about incel namely involuntarily celibate. it's a cyber clubhouse who feel rejected by woman and who hate woman and themselves. The recent van attack in toronto killed about ten people and that man called himself incel. but when it comes with catholic, a man who sincerely recites the rosary and venerates the blessed virgin mary will always have high respect and love for women. they will never go against them. yes, the holy bible, the sacraments, prayer, rosary and other spiritual sources become our line line to be connected with Christ. We the branches should be connected to christ the vine and produce more happiness and joy. Amen.

I am the vine and you are the branches

5th Sunday of Easter. 

Once there was a very famous priest who did miracles and wonders, and a man came to the priest and said, "Please, Father, pray for my hearing". The priest right away touched the man's ears and prayed for him for forty minutes and then he looked at him and said, "How is your hearing and how is your hearing now?" The man said, "I don't know Father.  My lawyer said that my hearing isn't until next week". 

Once the man who was so proud of himself said to his wife, "You won't believe I ran behind a bus and saved $2.00 and the wife wasn't happy and said, "why didn't you run behind a taxi and save $20..." 

Today one of the greatest challenges is "Isolation". There are more than 25% of people live alone. Parents, spouses and children live as strangers to each other. Today especially children do things alone, playing alone, eating alone, dealing with their challenges alone. But as believers of Christ, we don't need to be alone at all. Because the indwelling of God, the presence of God is always with us. 

Jean Paul Satre says, "By the way, if you feel lonely when you are alone, you are in bad company".  

We who are baptized, and we come to church and practice our faith, should know that Christ is always with us. But the question today is, "Are we attached with Christ?" We the branches cannot survive Christ the vine. 

They say that in the late 1980, a fire destroyed a building on the lower side of Manhattan. An alarm was sounded, and the trucks and the personnel arrived in plenty of time to fight the fire. The exit door worked properly. The steps were clear, and the people got out of the building quickly and in order.  

And still they could not put out the fire. But unfortunately, the fire destroyed the building. It's because the city water line had never been connected to the building fire-system.  

Today there are so many people running around place to place and doing so many wonderful things. They spent their time, energy and resources to make things happen in their community and in their country. But if we closely follow them, we could easily be shocked to know that many of them would be disappeared in five to ten years without any trace. What happened to those people? They got burned out, depressed and got some physical or deep psychological problems. It's all because they forgot to abide with the source who gives us all life. When we are not with Christ and when we don't abide with Him, we cannot bear much results. To grow stronger, we need Christ. 

Once I visited a dying person and spent time in prayer with her. She was almost involved with so many church's activity. Her presence was so powerful and helpful for so many people and at one point, I said, "Let us pray the rosary together..." She then looked at me and said, "Father, I don't know how to pray the rosary..." And I didn't know what to say. What was the point of running around and doing so many things but not attached to the vine. She didn't know many prayers or the rosary.  We should stay with Christ first and all other things should follow next.  

Last weekend, Jesus talked about Him being the shepherd and we His sheep and this weekend, He says that He is the vine and we are the branches. Jesus uses everyday language and parable to explain the unexplained mysterious connection that we have with Him. 

What should we do to be connected with Him? 

We must continue to do what we are doing now. If we are connected with Christ, the result is happiness and joy. If we are with, the result is producing more and if we are in Christ, we will be so ready to invite others to the source and life. 

  

  

Good Shepherd

Good shepherd Sunday 

Once a very rich man shared his story to a group of people in a church saying, "There was a time in my life, I didn't have anything to live on. My life was meaningless and then one day, I came to this beautiful church and listen to divine words. At that time, I had only a dollar and I gave everything, the whole dollar to God and that day, God blessed me highly and today because of my giving, I became a billionaire". It is always good to give to God will give us more and more".  Then from the back of the church, someone said, "Now I dare you to do it again". 

Once a Sunday school teacher asked her children to memorize the famous Psalm 23rd. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures and He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He makes me walk in the right paths in His name's sake. 

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil. You are with me. Your rod and your staff. They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and merch shall follow me all the days of my life. I will dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long".  

One of the boys tried to memorize the Psalm... I remember some children calling it, Psalm. But he could not remember at all. As everyone reciting the Psalm, Michael stood up to recite but he got nervous and he said proudly, "The Lord is my shepherd and that is all I need to know". 

Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates 'Good Shepherd Sunday'. This day, we in a special way pray for vocations both religious and priestly. In the gospel, Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. The hired hand who is not the shepherd and who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the Good shepherd and I know my own and my own knows me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep". 

If you don't get goose bumps for these words of Christ, I can definitely say that you don't have skin.  

The Good Shepherd protects His sheep 

Once a burglar (thief) broke into a home and was looking around. Then he heard a soft voice saying, "Jesus is watching you". Thinking that was his imagination, he continued his search and then he heard the same voice saying, "Jesus is watching you". He turned his flash light on and saw a parrot in a cage and asked the parrot if he was the one talking, and the parrot said, "yes". He asked, "What is your name?" The parrot said, "Moses". The burglar began to laugh and said, "who in the right mind would name a parrot Moses?" Then the parrot said, "the same person who named a pit bull Jesus". 

Jesus says that hired hands or people who do their jobs for money, will not protect the sheep. When danger and challenges arise, will abandon the sheep and run away. In the time of Jesus, there were so many false prophets and preachers and they let people into astray and misguided them saying God was a punishing God. But Jesus the Good Shepherd came and announced about the unconditional love of God saying that God is our Father and we are his children. He is our Good Shepherd who lays down His life for us. 

The good shepherd leads us to everlasting life: 

One day two Canadian Jewish friends were talking to each other and one said, "I sent my son to Israel thinking the he would be a better Jew, but he came back a Christian and the other said, "the same thing happened to my son too". So, they went to their Rabbi and complained, and the rabbi looked at them and said, the same thing happened to me too. My son came home a Christian. So, the three prayed to God saying, "God, we sent our sons to Israel and they came back Christians and they heard a voice saying, "It is funny that you should mention that..." 

No one promises us everlasting life or can give us hope for tomorrow, but our Lord Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd not only feed us and protect us but also will lead us to everlasting life. 

Conclusion:  

Let us pray to the Good Shepherd who lead us to life and lead us to joy and happiness. Yes, let us join the Psalmist and say, 'the Lord is my shepherd and I shall want nothing". 

Third Sunday of Easter-B

WHY ARE YOU FRIGHTENED AND WHY DO DOUBT ARISE IN YOUR HEARTS? 

After seeing the ministries that can possible done at St. Joseph's, one of the parishioners said, "What if I sign up for more than fifteen ministries". I said then you will go against the power of gravity. You will have the experience of levitation and bilocation too. So please sign up. 

One day, a man was pouring a new driveway of cement and some of the children in the neighborhood ran right through his freshly poured driveway. Some even wrote their names in the cement. When the man saw it, he got so mad and was screaming. Then one of his neighbors came over and said, "I thought you said you loved children". The man said, "Well, I do love them in the abstract, but I don't love them in the concrete". 

Why are you so frightened and why do doubt arise in your hearts? 

A Christian is not a man who is trying to do something, he is a man who has received something; a man to whom something has happened and who simply cannot keep it to himself. We are alleluia people who cannot stop celebrating life and we are Easter people who experience constant happiness and we are people of God who are not afraid of anything.  

In the Holy Bible, God says 365 times, "Do not be afraid". 365 days make a year and we are called not to be afraid for a year and that means not to be afraid at all. It's because Christ who died, rose to life and He is with us now. 

As Mary Magdalene was the tomb being empty, she began to cry and was afraid thinking someone stole His holy body and then the Risen Christ Himself appeared to her and said, "Mary, do not be afraid, It's I your Lord. When Mary Magdalene came to know the Risen Christ, her fear vanished, and she became so courageous and strong. She ran to the apostles and others and proclaimed the Resurrection of the Lord. 

Why are we so frightened and why do doubts arise in our hearts when we have the Risen Christ with us. Your pain and suffering; your financial and family challenges cannot take you away from Christ the life-giver. All we have to do is just put our trust in Him who says, "Do not be afraid and I am alive".  

Once an ocean fish said to an older fish, "Excuse me (fish communicates in French by the way), you are older than me and please tell me where I can find this thing, they call the ocean. The older fish began to laugh and laugh and said, "The ocean, you are an ocean fish and the ocean is the thing you are in now". The little nemo said, "Oh this is just water. What I am seeking is the ocean and with disappointment, he swam away to search elsewhere. 

We don't need to go anywhere looking for Jesus. He is with us and Christ is living among us. We are people of God who walk not by sight but by faith and thus we realize His presence among us. 

What happened to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They were so sad and depressed of the crucifixion and death of Christ. As they were looking and sad, the risen Christ Himself joined them and explained why the Messiah had to undergo great suffering and be killed and be raised up on the third day. He opened their minds and hearts. As they recognized the presence of Christ, He vanished from their sight and they were saying to each other, "We are afraid and worried and there He appeared to us and where not our hearts burning within us while He opened the scripture to us and so on. In this Emmaus story, one of the disciple is called Cleopas and other disciple's name was not given. It's because so that we could fill our name there and experience faith. Yes, we are called not to be afraid of anything because the risen Christ is with us twenty-four seven. 

What is faith? 

Faith is when Christ is appearing to us and says, "Today you will be with me in paradise and saying to Him, "not today Jesus, I want to be with you now..." Yes, being in the presence of Christ every moment is called paradise and that is called faith. 

Christ who appears to His disciples is constantly asking them not to be afraid of anything. Fear call easily kill a person. Today more people die of fear than the illness or disease. The risen Christ who often appeared to His followers, disciples, apostles and others who are hiding behind locked doors and some other hiding place shared peace and firmly said, "Do not be afraid and I will be with you until the end of age". So, let us not to be afraid and continue to sing 'Alleluia' because we are Easter people. Amen. 

  

O