FAITH BRINGS SIGHT

FAITH BRINGS SIGHT

In today's gospel, we meet with Jesus, the crowd and the blind man.
We meet with Jesus:God as He promised sent at last His Only Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Jesus who came among us preached the good news, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and even raised the dead to life. He said that we all children of God and we belong only to God.
once a teacher showed a hundred dollar bill to his students and asked who wanted the bill
and every one raised the hand and then He crumpled the bill and asked, "now who wanted the
bill and everyone still raised their hands and then he threw the bill on the floor and
grinded it with his shoes and asked, "now who wanted the hundred dollar bill and everyone
still wanted the bill" then he looked at the students and said, "even though the dollar was
crumpled, grinded and thrown on the floor, it never lost its value.

And in the same way, even though we go away from God and experienced much pain,
difficulties and challenges, God never changes his love and thus he sent his only son Jesus
to be with us.In today's gospel, Jesus heals a blind man and said, "Son, your faith has saved you, go in
peace"

2. Then we meet the crowd:when the blind man cried with the loud voice saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on
me". the crowed tried to stop him. But He never stopped calling out for the Lord.

Once Mother Theresa went to a rich man and stretched out her hand and asked for donation to
run her orphanage, the rich man who was against Catholicism, said, no and spit on her palm.
But Mother Theresa smiled at him and then stretched her another hand and said, "that spit
is for me but now please give something for the poor" Right there the rich man was
converted into Catholicism and dedicated his whole life for Christ and for the poor.
when we ask God without ceasing, it will be given to us. Even though the crowed tried to
stop the blind man from getting help from Jesus, he never gave up and then He received
sight from our Lord.

3. In today's gospel, we see the strong faith of the blind man.
The blind man had a very strong faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel says if we have
faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains, and if we have faith and say to a
mulberry tree, be uprooted and be planted in the sea and it would obey us.
once there was a mother who saw her son going away from God and facing challenges and she
without ceasing prayed for her son more than twenty years and finally because of her
prayer, her Son became a great teacher of the Church and he is none other than St.
Augustine.

Today's gospel invites us to pray without ceasing, without stopping. Let us continue to
pray to God and experience His love and kindness each and every day. Amen.

PRAYER HEARD

Dressed well

Coloured hair

Smelled good

As usual,

I went to Church

Sat at the back

Closed my eyes

Began to pray

But,

All I saw in my mind was

Plate full of food

Bacon and eggs

Fried potatoes too

Toasted bread

On the side

With glass full of

Orange juice too.

Unable to pray more
Went to home
Opened the door
There in kitchen
My wife who
Wanted DIVORCE
With smiling face
Making my favorite breakfast.

Blind prayer

Blind prayer

I was going to bed

thinking of

changing the world

a better place to live;

making the sun shine

a little brighter,

asking the flower

to bloom everyday

And showing humanity

a happier way to love.

I was going to bed

thinking of

wiping the tears of the poor

with my giving

helping the needy

with my generosity

using my energy

to make the humanity

to smile every day.

And as usual

when my GUIDE DOG barks

I know it is another day

to see humanity happy.

MISSION SUNDAY

Mission Sunday

Today our Catholic Church celebrates, "Mission Sunday". And Today our holy Catholic Church
invites us to support missionaries who dedicate their lives to bring the Good News to all.

One day a man came to a spiritual master and offered two gold coins and asked, "Master,
what should I do to become a missionary?" The master took one of the gold coins and threw
it in the river, the man right away jumped in the river to find it but he could it. He
asked, "where did you throw the coin?". The master again took another gold coin threw it in
the river and said, "right there". Then the master looked at the man with compassion and
said, "if you want to become a missionary, you should know how to unbind yourself from
material things that will bind you".
By the very nature of the sacrament of baptism, we are all called to become missionaries of
the word of God at home and in society. when we bind ourselves with Christ, then we are
called missionaries.

once a man came to a master and said, "master, I want to be a lay missionary and before
going on mission, I would like to stop drinking alcohol or at least to know when to stop
drinking, I want to know the limit. The master said, "look at those four people, when you
see those four people as eight people, then stop drinking and you will be fine" Then the
man thanked the master and said, "master, by the way... they are not four people but only
two".
Our missionaries have so many challenges such as learning new languages, cultures and
customs.And they have to face many immediate practical challenges such as weather, food
and physical and psychological surroundings.

Once a European missionary went to Tanzania and was preaching the good news of Christ among
people for many years and one day a group of British soldiers came and all the children ran
to welcome them and were singing and dancing for them and then they came to him and said,
"we saw white foreigners today". The missionary looked at them and said, "look at me, I am
white and I am a foreigner too". They looked at him and said, "No.. you are not a
foreigner. you are our father".
Today our missionaries need our prayers and help because they spend their lives doing great
things for others. Today Christianity is spreading everywhere because of their dedication
and commitment.

Once there was a fight between two african tribes in Niger and a man from one tribe killed his neighbour who belonged to the another tribe. when the tribe won, they wanted to take revenge of the killer and they callled wife who witnessed her husband's death and asked her to point out the killer but she refused to do so saying, the missionaries who were here, taught us how to forgive and accept others. If we go as eye for an eye way, then the whole world will be blind. I forgave him and you should forgive him too. yes, Christian missionaries did and are doing wonderful mission of changing the world a better place to live.

Jesus, after His resurrection asks his disciples to go everywhere to preach the good news
and promised that he would accompany them till the end. As we pray for our missionaries, let us also remember that we are all called to preach the
Good News of Jesus Christ by our way of life each and every day. Amen.

Marriage is a sacrament

From the beginning of Creation, God made them male and female.

God created people in His own image and likeness. He created them male and female. And they were created to know God and love
others with the god-given gifts. The book of Genesis says that God made people from the dust of the ground and we should know
that we belong to God.once a man came to a spiritual master and said, "Master, help me to find happiness. my wife and I are like water and clay,
together we only make mud no life. The master looked at him and said, " because you are dust and unto dust you shall return.
Go and find what it means.2. In today's gospel, Jesus says that because of the hardness of heart, separation, divorce and enmity happen in humanity.
Where there is love, there is God and where there is God, there is heaven. When family keeps Christ at the center of their
life, then their family will be a holy family. Without Jesus, life will be meaningless.once a 98 year-old man and a 95 year-old woman wanted to get divorce.And the lawyer looked at them and asked “How long have
you been married?" They said, "75 rough and rocky years,. "Then, why have you waited so long to file for divorce?" They
replied, we don't want to give bad impression to our children and we waited for our them to die.According to our Catholic faith, Marriage is a sacrament directly instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. Through the
institution of Marriage, the male and the female continue to experience the love of God in their good times and in bad and in
their sickness and in health. once a couple was being interviewed on their Golden Wedding Anniversary. "In all that time -- did you ever consider
divorce?" they were asked. "Oh, no, not divorce," one of them said. "Murder sometimes, but never divorce.heart is the symbol of love and forgiveness and when we make the sign of the cross, we touch the heart and say, in the name
of the son because Jesus was born man and experienced our human frailties. He is the source of all love. Jesus says when two
are in his name, there he will be with them. what is the secret for long lasting marriage? it is forgiveness, forgiveness and more forgiveness.they will say that marriage is a three ring circus... engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering. once a older priest was invited to say some few words on a wedding celebration and he who always used to qoute something from the bible said, " Father... forgive them for they know not what they do"Today let us ask God to bless every married couples and thus they come to know the value of the sacrament of marriage.

Those who humble themselves will be exalted

The secret of knowing Jesus personally

Today we are facing more violence and killing in the name of religions than any other human
cause. Today we are struggling with more religious problems than any other human issues.why
do we reject and fight with each other, Since all religions teach about love, kindness and
forgiveness?Because in one way or another, we are struggling to deepen and develop our faith in God.

The Bible says when everything failed, God at last sent His Only Son Jesus to save us.
Jesus, the only Son of God, the Messiah humbled himself to become man and thus He set an
example for us all.when we believe in Jesus, we will eventually become like him, humble, loving and forgiving.

once a minister was given an award for humility and a week later, the congregation took the
award back because he displayed the award in his office.

when we humble ourselves in the presence of God, then we will be exalted in the presence of
others.

There is a gospel story that says once two people went to pray to God, one stood in front
of the temple and with a loud voice said, "God, you know that i am a good man. I pray five
times a day and fast twice a week. I give ten percent of my salary to the temple and serve
and help others. he was so proud and everyone who walked by heard his prayers and the other
person who did not even raise his head, prayed to God saying, "God, i am a sinner, forgive
me" and then Jesus concluded his story saying the one who humbled himself would be exalted.
Humility transfers our worldly knowledge into diving wisdom. It teaches to accept all as
children of God and serve humanity with kindness and love.
one day a woman came to a minister and said, "every time I come to church, i feel so proud
of myself. By looking at others, I can see how beautiful I am, how gorgeous i am. is it sin
to feel that i am more beautiful than others?the minister looked at her and said, "in your case,it is not a sin at all. then he said, it
is a horrible, horrible mistake".

humility is the secret key to know Jesus personally and bring peace to this world. Humility
teaches to accept others as they are.

Once Winston Churchill was asked, "are you so proud of yourself that every time you make a
speech, the hall is overflowing, you get a big crowd?"Churchill said, "it is flattering. I always remember that if instead of making a political
speech, I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big."

In today's gospel, Jesus looked at the disciples who were fighting with each other for who
was the greatest and big and said, "whoever wants to be first must be last of all and
servant of all.Jesus the Only son of god set an example. He humbled himself to become man and then asked his disciples to follow his way. if we want to become like Jesus, then we should humble
ourselves and servants of all. Like our master, when we empty our humanity and humble
ourselves, we will be filled with divinity and be exalted. Amen.

He has done everything well

He has done everything well

once after their fiftieth wedding celebration, the man looked at his wife
and said, "honey, I am so proud of you". And the wife who was hard of
hearing said, "speak up, I can't hear you". "I said I am so proud of you"The wife answered "thank you, I am also tired of you"
In today's gospel, Jesus heals a man who was deaf and people who saw his
amazing wonders said to each other, "He has done everything well; he even
makes the deaf hear and the mute speak" and thus they were astounded beyonds
words.
In those days, in the time of Jesus, physical and mental challenges were
considered punishment of God. And thus they were rejected by family members
and society.The great philosopher Plato said, "challenged people were waste
of society and they should be thrown out from a mountain top".Then our Lord Jesus came saying, "we all belong to God.There is no
partiality in the sight of God. Our physical, mental challenges are for the
glory of God and thus He began to heal the sick, give sight to the blind and
make the deaf hear....
Once a man who was poor and had old torn cloths went to Church and people
who looked at him went away from him saying, "He smells bad and he has old
torn cloths on him" And after the celebration, the minister said to him, "
the next time before coming to Church talk to God and find out the dress
code" And the next Sunday also the man came with the same old torn cloths.
people rejected him and nobody shared even peace with him. After celebration the
minister asked him, "I told you talk to God and did you talk to him?" the
man said, "yes I did and He said he did not know the dress code of this
Church because he had never been to this Church".
By His miracles and wonders, Jesus wide opened the hearts of the people and
they began to see the wonders of God's doing and accept everyone as precious
child of God.
Once a man saw people eating grass by the side of the road and asked, "what
are you doing?" the guy said,"we are so poor and don't have anything to eat""get into my limousine and I"ll help you". the guy said, "I have a wife and
three children" "take them all with you" And they all got into the limousine
and thus he took them to his place.the guy with his wife and children
thanked him saying, "you are a very generous man and we thank you". the rich
man looked at them and said, " look at my place the grass is two feet tall,
go and eat them".
Many of us don't see the suffering of others because we are not experiencing
the healing power of God in us. Jesus heals us through His words and through
His Church.Ephphata or opening ourselves experience happens when we love others as we are.
once a salesperson saw an old man sitting on his porch and drinking and smoking in the morning without any worry or concern. The man approached him and asked, "Hi old man... you look so happy and what is the reason be to happy always?" the Old man looked at him and said, "I drink and smoke everyday and eat six times a day" and the man looked at the old man and asked, "by the way how old are you?" the old man said, "I am twenty-five".
Ephpata experience can happen to those who respect themselves and love others without conditions. So let us experience Jesus' healing in us and continue His mission by helping others to experience healing. Amen.