33 sunday-a

Once a rich man who was a millionaire, stood in front of the parishioners and testified his faith. You know what, I was a poor man once. I used to make a dollar a day. One day, I went to church and there I heard a missionary priest talking about his challenging work in foreign land. On that day, I decided to give it all to God’s work or nothing at all. So, I decided to give the whole dollar to God. And because of my decision, God highly blessed me today. Yes, I am a millionaire and so rich. Then the whole congregation applauded, and as he took his seat a little old lady rose and said, “I dare you to do it again”.  

Friends in Christ Jesus,  

Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life is always with us and asks us not to be afraid of anything. It’s because those who believe in Him, will be given more of everything and it’s because those who come to church and love with mind, body and soul will see and experience only happiness and joy and it’s because they will be given words and a wisdom to protect themselves and others. Yes, Christ becomes their stronghold and life. 

Have you ever heard about sleeper agent or sleeper cell? A sleeper cell is the one who remains dormant in a community until activated, by a prearranged signal, to perform acts of terrorism or sabotage. These days, there are sleeper cells in every community and its growing. They can be dormant for years and years until activated.  

What about holy sleeper cells? They are called not to cause destruction but to defend humanity, doing great things in the name of the Lord. 

The Holy Bible often talks about end-time, judgement and punishment. The Lord who was taken up to heaven, will be coming back. He is a promise-keeper and He will never fail to keep His promise and He is coming in an unexpected hour.  

And there will be signs before His coming, like the nations go against nations, people go against people, the sun will not give its light and the moon will be darkened. There will be natural calamities and disasters and so on.  

So, what should we do? Jesus says not to be afraid of anything but be ready to face them with courage and hope. A holy sleeper cell is the one who with the help of god, gets ready knowing words and a wisdom be given that moment of challenge to face anything and everything.  

All we have to do is keep ourselves stronger in faith. After all these challenges, the Lord will appear, not to punish us but to reward us. 

Once there was an old processional truck, a truck that was used in the church procession to carry the statues of Jesus, Mary and other saints, was sitting in a church parking lot and a new garbage truck that passed by, looked at the old processional truck and said, “By the way, how come you go into the street once or twice a year and every time, people see you, they bless themselves and I almost every day pass through streets and when they see me, they go away from me or close their nose? The old processional truck said, “It’s not about our outer look. It’s all about what we have inside of us. I carry god in me, and you carry garbage”.  

So, what we carry in us makes a huge difference to welcome the Lord our God on the last day. So, Let’s prepare our hearts and minds and welcome Him who is our way to the Father. Amen.