The Ascension of Christ our Lord

THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST JESUS 

Good morning everyone, I am happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. 

Once two guys were talking to each other. The first guy said, “I have to give a farewell speech and I don’t know how to make a farewell speech”. The other guy said, “Don’t worry. I can write it for you and it’s only 20 bucks”. The guy said, “Wow...it’s really cheap”. The other guy said, “It’s only 20 bucks and it’s a good buy”. 

Today Christ our Lord says, “Goodbye” to His apostles. Today we celebrate the Ascension of Christ Our Lord to heaven.  

Jesus our Lord, after His glorious Ascension, for forty days stayed with His apostles appearing to them behind locked doors, giving them courage and hope, accompanying them on their journey, opening the Scripture to them and telling them why the Messiah had to undergo great suffering, die on the cross and then come to life and then showing to His disciples His hands and feet saying, ‘look at my feet and hands, do not doubt but believe’. 

There is a beautiful story about the Ascension. As Christ our lord went up to heaven, the angels and archangels welcomed Him with joy. Then angel Gabriel asked Christ, “Oh Messiah, as you are up in heaven now. Who is going to continue your mighty works?” Christ our Lord said, “My apostles whom I chose in a special way will continue my works”. The angel hesitated then and said, “you mean the apostles who denied you, who ran away from you and who disappeared as you were hanging on the cross?’ “Do you have any other plan?”  Christ looked at the angel Gabriel and all other angels and said, “I do not have any other plan. They are the only plan only them”. 

The one who descended from heaven and lived among us. The one who brought life and light to us all has ascended to heaven today. He went up to heaven, not to abandon us but to give us more life. 

His glorious Ascension tells us where the Messiah is now: He is with the Father sitting at His right hand, interceding for all our needs. Yes, Christ will never abandon us. He is with us always until the end of time. 

His glorious Ascension tells us Why Christ appeared to His disciples after His Resurrection:  He appeared to them to give courage and strength. He brought them back to the fold giving them peace and prepared them to go everywhere to preach the Good News. 

His glorious Ascension tells us that He will come again on the last day. Yes, Christ is coming back not to judge us but to take us with Him, so that where the Master is, there will we also be. Yes, where the head is, there we follow. 

The glorious Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that we who follow Him and we who believe in Him should proclaim the Good news to all. Yes, Christ is the only way and we are called to show the way to those who are wandering around. 

As we celebrate the glorious Ascension, let us celebrate our Ascension too. One day we too like our Master will ascend and be with Him forever. Amen. 

six sunday -c

SIX SUNDAY-C 

LOVE ONE ANOTHER. 

Good morning/evening everyone, we are very happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. Our special welcome to all our parishioners. Once two women were talking to each other. First woman said, “My husband is an angel”. The other woman innocently said, “Wow...you are so lucky, and my husband is still alive”. 

Dear friends in Christ, 

Last weekend we heard that Christ was giving a new commandment on love saying, “Love one another as I have loved you”. And He said that the whole world would come to know that we belong to Him and Him alone by the way we love and accept others. Love is the measurement to His discipleship. Anyone who loves others is already in Christ and Christ is in them. 

Today’s gospel is the continuation of that commandment. Christ says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love Him, and we will come to Him and make our home with Him”.  

Before ascending into heaven, Christ our Lord giving His disciples and all others His final instructions and commandments. He asks them to love one another. 

In early days, while the Roman emperors enjoyed watching the circus events in which the followers of Christ were tortured and killed by lions, gladiators, said to each other, “See how these Christians love each other”. Even in the face of great danger, Christians still had time to support each other. Jesus is talking about that kind of self-sacrificing and giving love.  

And He never stops giving them hope. During the forty days of His presence after His resurrection, He was appearing to them behind locked doors, giving them hope and sharing with them divine peace. Now He is reassuring them the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That is our Lord Jesus Christ. He will never abandon those who put their complete trust in Him. He will fulfill all their needs and then will take them with Him so that where the shepherd is, there also is the sheep. 

Once a king was told that a new preacher was in his town wanting to preach to his people. The King said to the men, “I will let him preach, if he would preach God’s love like Jesus preached; If he would suffer like Jesus suffered and die like Him on the cross”. For two thousand years, many tried their best to define love, but Christ and Christ alone established that divine love dying on the cross. 

What is the size of my faith that brings gives a new strength and courage to love and sacrifice?  

How can you know the size of your faith? All you have to do is just talk to one of your children who doesn’t practice his or her faith and their response to your faith  will be the size. 

And then you know how to increase that size by increasing your faith in Christ. Let our faith be fortified and let our love bring more hope to all. Amen. 

love one another

LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVE YOU 

Good evening/morning everyone, welcome to celebrate today’s Holy Mass. Our special welcome to all our parishioners, visitors and everyone here. 

Once during the homily time, a man was sound asleep. The priest said to the man who was sitting next to him, “would you please wake him up?’ The man said, “why put him to sleep and you wake him up”. 

There is a story about God’s other children in which we would see how the people of Israel would cross the red see after being enslaved for four hundred years and the Egyptians who would follow them would all perish in the sea. After this, as the people of Israel were singing and dancing, in heaven, the angels were also singing and dancing, celebrating freedom and victory but God would be missing, so the angels would ask angel Michael about it. You know what Michael would say, “God is not here because he is weeping for many thousands of his other children who were drowned today”. 

In today’s gospel, Christ our Lord is giving us a new commandment. Yes, He is giving us a new love commandment.  

Once a scholar asked Jesus, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, body and soul”. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself” 

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is an old commandment and the new commandment that Christ gives us today is, “Love one another as I have loved you”. 

St. John the beloved disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ kept repeating only three words in his last years. He would say, “Love one another”.  He was repeating the new commandment of Christ our Lord. 

Once a passerby criticized Mother Teresa who was attending a dying man with horrible sickness saying, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars”. Mother Teresa looked at him and said, “Neither would I”. And I never liked her that much because wherever she went, she took up a good collection. She did it everything for love. Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you”. And that’s why we have the crucified Christ in the Catholic Church namely to know how much He loved us, and we should do the same. 

Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you”. Which means put your love into action. Anyone who says, “Lord...Lord...will not enter into heaven but only those who put their faith into practice”. What is the point of saying to someone that you love them when you do not prove that love in action. Love should be a practical one if not it should not be told. 

Today we have so many inter religious dialogues and ecumenical gatherings everywhere talking about uniting all different religious people together for a common good. Though theologically we are all different, there is a common ground among us all and that’s called love. Love is a uniting force and when there is love, war and enmity can easily be erased. A loving heart will never long for heaven because God himself will come to them and reside in them. So, let us love one another as Christ has loved us. 

mother's day

Mother’s Day... 

Today we celebrate ‘Good Shepherd’ Sunday and today in a special way, praying for vocation...the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few and therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into harvest.   

Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” 

Tomorrow/ today we celebrate ‘Mother’s Day’. Today let us thank God almighty for all our wonderful parish mothers who dedicate, sacrifice and do great things for their children and families. Let us thank God for them. It’s only because of mothers, we still taste love in the world. It’s only because of them, we still taste the gift of forgiveness in the world and it’s only because of them, we have so much life in the world. So, let us honor them in a special way today and ask God to continue to shower upon them His countless blessings through Christ our Lord. 

When I was at school, there was a school leader or monitor election happened. There were three students and I competed. And we were given five minutes to perform before 2000 boys our ability, talent and ask them to elect us. The three did dance, magic and powerful speech. They all went well. Then my turn came, I knew what exactly boys liked. So that’s what I did. I took my mom with me and she looked at them all and said, “He is a good boy and elect him and he will do a great job” then, she kissed on my cheek in front of them, which I never liked. And they choose me to be their leader. 

After election, they all came to be saying, “Your mom is so wonderful, and we want to have mother like you do and so on”. They didn’t know that it was all well scripted. They saw only the climax, but the anti-climax was helping my mom for a week, cleaning and picking up garbage.  

Motherhood is a very high calling; their sacrifice and love. Their dedication and self-giving are beyond measure. Because of mothers, the world is a better place today and because of mothers, children are stronger. 

There is a tradition in our culture that on this day, we take our mothers to the temple or church and wash their feet saying to them, “Thank you mom for your love and thank you mom for bridging me into this world” 

The bible says that even before choosing the foster father, Joseph the just man, God chose Mary to be the mother of His only Son. Mary’s role was so crucial in the life of Christ. She was the one who said, “Yes to the will of God” And she was the one who asked Christ when he disappeared at the temple in Jerusalem, “Son, why did you do all this to us” and she was the one who asked him to do something at Cana of Galilee.  

Abraham Lincoln once said, “All that I am and all I hope to be, I owe to my mother”.  

If I call my mom often, she would say, “why are you calling me all the time?” If I don’t call her often, she would say, “so you are too busy to call me now?” So, in either way, you can’t win, but losing to mother is the happiest thing in the world. 

I remember that little story about that boy who forgot his line in a school drama and his mother who was sitting in the front row said, “say, I am the light of the world”. The boy who got the line was so happy and looked at them all proudly and said, “My mom is the light of the world”. In the Holy bible, God’s love is compared to only that of a mother’s love. It’s because it’s selfless and unconditional. 

But we are all proud to say that we respect and love our mothers and we are so happy to pray and support them in so many ways but unfortunately, we are still barely out of the jungle when it comes with women right, equality, women protection and so on. 

Even today in the name of religion and culture, women are being treated differently. The saddest thing is we are still facing honor killing, mutilation, abduction, trade, stoning to death and so many other cruel things are going on and on.  

As we celebrate Mother's Day, let us also raise our voice against all those abuses that are happening around us. If we witness anything like that, it’s our duty to say, “No”. Then we can celebrate Mother's Day every day until then let’s not stopping praying for them. God bless, Amen