FUNERAL CELEBRATION FOR JAMES MCNAUTON

FUNERAL FOR JAMES MCNAUTON 

Good morning everyone, on behalf of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, we would like to extend our deepest sympathy, prayers and support to the family members, relatives, friends of our departed friend James. 

Today we are here to thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit for our beloved brother James for all the good things that he enjoyed in his life and the love, kindness and forgiveness that he experienced from above. Those who believe in God will never be abandoned but be given everlasting life. 

And let us also pray for ourselves who believe in the love and kindness of God and who sincerely practice our faith in Christ that one day we might join our brother to praise, thank and glorify God in Christ. 

Friends in Christ Jesus, 

“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come. Those who believe in Christ the light of the world, will never see darkness and that’s why Christ our Lord once said, ‘I am the light of the world and those who follow me will have the light of life”. 

As we who believe in Christ and practice our faith know so well that we are always in the light. And that is why as we enter in the church, we bless ourselves with the Holy water that reminds us of our intimate connection and relation with God Almighty in Christ our Lord the light of the world. On the day of Baptism, a light from heaven came upon us and blessed us. From that light came a voice saying, “you are my child, my beloved with whom I am well pleased”. From that time onward, we begin to reflect that light in the world. Yes, that light is our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us thank God for our brother James who received that light on the day of his baptism. 

It’s our human nature to go away from God and fall into sin over and over again and do something stupid often. But at the same time, as we go to Christ our Lord, He would say, ‘Child your sins are forgiven, and you are lost and now you are found. You were dead and now you are alive. Thus, He would fill us with eternal light. Our brother had a great opportunity to receive the unlimited forgiveness of Christ our Lord in his life. 

Friends in Christ Jesus, as we come to Church and receive the Holy Eucharist that is the body and blood of Christ, we are given an assurance saying that we would never taste death only life. Yes, through His body, Christ opens our eyes and let us see the light that’s Christ Himself. 

So,let us thank God for our brother James who was given an opportunity to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. 

In today’s gospel, Thomas like any other human being filled with doubts and dilemmas comes to Christ and says, “Jesus, you are saying that you are going away from us and how can we know the way?” Christ the compassionate one, the light of the world says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can go to the Father except through me”.  

Yes, Christ is the only way. Christ is the only truth and He is the only life and if we want to have life, a life that will never end, let us hold on to Him and Him alone the light of the world. Amen. 

Prodigal son lost and found

PRODIGAL SON LOST AND FOUND 

Good evening/ morning everyone, two weeks ago as I was driving through Minden where I was at Our Lady of Fatima church many years ago, stopped at Timhortons and saw one of the parishioners and she said, “I was thinking about you 2.0 clock in the morning and wanted to text you to ask something”. I was so happy that I inspired some people and they wanted to know about God and His love, and I said, “Please, ask me now”. She said, “How come you don’t have any wrinkles yet?” Then she bought me a coffee, so I explained to her everything. If anyone wants to know, all you have to do is buy me a coffee. 

After reading this parable, our theology teacher looked at us and said, “Before explaining this parable, if you have anything, ask me now”. We all said, ‘What happened to the Mother?’ He began to laugh and said, “The one who is telling the parable is our Mother, Father, Brother, sister and friend. He is our everything”.  

Once Christ said, “Which one of you as your child asks for a fish, will give him a snake or asks for bread and will give him a stone?” “If you who are evil know how to give good things to your children, imagine how much more the divine God will shower upon those who ask Him, the Holy Spirit”. Our God is God of love, compassion and kind. He is slow to anger and ready to forgive all our sins. 

In the Parable today, we meet with three people with different stages of life namely in the morning of life, in the afternoon of life and in the evening of life. These stages do not depend on the age of a person but on the experience of a person. A person can be 14 and be in the evening of life and a person can be in their 40s and they can still be in the morning of life. It's all depends on the experience of a person. 

THE MORNING OF LIFE 

Once a king had a severe headache and he spent so much money on doctors, native medicines, magic and so on and nothing helped him. Then, there came a spiritual master and looked at the king and said, “your headache is the problem with your eyes. If you see only blue color, your headache will be gone”. So, the king began to see only blue colored things and his headache was gone. The king then ordered to paint the whole city blue and one day as the spiritual master was coming to the city, soldiers stopped him and painted him blue saying, “we want our king not having headache”. Then the master visited the king and asked why he was doing stupid thing painting everything blue. All he has to do is just put a blue- glasses on. 

Stupidity and unreasonable actions can easily fill the morning of life. The younger son decided to go away from his dad saying, “Give me my inheritance”. Thus, he went away from his life-line and squandered his property in dissolute living. The one amazing thing was, the forced starvation that enlightened him. 

After wasting his life, he was enlightened saying, “I will get up and go to the Father and say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you”. The forced starvation or fasting is a good thing to come to know the reality. It’s an amazing Lenten discipline.  

THE AFTERNOON OF LIFE 

Once there was a holy man who did miracles and wonders and across from his holy abode lived a woman who let a loose life. Every time he saw that woman, he said to himself, “This woman would definitely go to everlasting punishment”. Thus, time went by and one day the woman died and a few months later the holy man also passed away. And before entering to heaven, he heard the angels playing trumpets to welcome him into heaven but then he saw that loose woman was in heaven. He then refused to enter in. Then God Himself came out and invited him to heaven but he said, ‘How come that woman is in heaven?” God looked at him and said, “Son, she is also my child and she went away from me and then she came back to me. She was dead but now she is alive, and she was lost and is found now”.  “Do not be mad, please come and celebrate life”. 

The elder son who spent all his life with his dad and was so dedicated to do great things but when jealousy and anger entered him, he refused to get into the house accusing his brother for living a dissolute living. Coming to Church is not a reassurance to go to heaven. Coming to Church, receiving church's sacraments and other spiritual practices only create a longing to know more about God and extend that love towards others.  

THE EVENING OF LIFE 

This is an old story, but I still like it. Once what happened was a man went to his parish priest and said, “Oh Jesus talked to me...”  “Jesus does talk to everyone every day. Please just leave me alone”. But the man was insisting upon. The priest finally said, “The next time as Jesus appears to you, just ask him about my private sins”. The man agreed and the next time as he came, the priest laughed at him and said, “Did you ask Jesus about my private sins”. The man said, “Of course I did, and He said, “He not only forgave your sins but also forget them”. 

Everything changes in the evening of life. Nothing is that important and nothing is that big. We enjoy life loving, accepting and forgiving others. As the son was coming far away, the dad runs to him and hugs and kisses saying to the servants, “Quickly, bring a robe the best one and put it on him. Put new sandals on his feet and a gold ring on his finger. This son of mine was dead and now he is alive, and he was lost and now he is found”  

We see only celebration from now on. That is our God as we go to Him, He will not worry about our sins but only focus on our return. So, let us go to Him as we are. 

Once a man prayed to God saying, 

“Almighty God, 

If I worship you because of fear of hell, 

Then burn me in hell. 

If I worship you for, I desire heaven, 

Then exclude me from heaven. 

If I worship you for yourself alone, 

Then deny me not from your eternal beauty”. Amen. 

second sunday in Lent-

SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 

Good evening/morning everyone, welcome to celebrate the second Sunday in Lent.  

Once a huge clay statue of Jesus was moved from one place to another. As people were moving that clay statue, there happened a little crack, a little break in the clay. People got so upset because that statue has been there for hundreds of years. Then people noticed a little bright light reflection through the crack. They were so curious and began to slowly remove the clay and thus they found out that that wasn’t a clay statue of Jesus at all. That was a golden statue of Jesus covered with clay. 

Dear friends in Christ Jesus, today we celebrate the second Sunday in Lent. Today we meet with Christ our Lord going up to a mountain with three of His wonderful disciples and there on the mountain, He was praying to God the Father. As He was praying, there happened the transfiguration. Yes, His cloths began to be like dazzling white and His face was shining like the sun. Everything happened because of His prayer.  

Because of His prayers, the clay of human nature vanishes, and the golden Jesus comes out, shining like the Sun.  

After every time, Christ our Lord was with the Father in prayer, something magical, unimaginable things happened. After being alone with the Father, Christ our Lord began to walk on water; after spending time with the Father in prayer, Christ taught His disciple about how to call the Father saying our Father prayer. After spending forty days and forty nights in prayer, Christ faced the tempter saying to Him, “One does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God”. As the devil asked him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple saying, “The Scripture says your Father will send angles to hold you up and your foot will not dash against anything”. Jesus said, “Do not test the Lord your God”. Then Jesus said, “I am here to serve the Lord our God....”  

Prayer has an enormous power and our Lord and Master set an example and showed how we can easily relate with the Father. As we pray to God without ceasing, the mud or the clay that covered us, will begin to peel off, the golden nature of our humanity will shine. We will be transformed into new spiritual beings. 

They say that the Muslims pray five times a day. The Hindus pray three times a day and the Buddhist and others pray as often as they could and what about we who follow our Lord Jesus Christ?  

We can make our whole life a prayer. Yes, as we stay with Christ, our whole life becomes a prayer. The three disciples who were with Christ witnessed great things happening to Christ and to the surroundings. They saw Moses and Elijah talking with Christ and they saw a cloud overshadowing and from the cloud a voice came saying, “This is my son, my beloved and listen to Him”. 

Prayer changes everything. The clay of human nature that covered us will be removed and the divine golden nature will begin to shine through us. 

So let us shine before others and make this Lenten journey a meaningful one. God bless.