THE OTHER SON

THE OTHER SON

Today we are celebrating the fourth Sunday in Lent. And today's gospel talks about the story of
the prodigal son. we often hear about the compassion of the father and the return of the son; we
hear about the forgiveness and acceptance but today I am going to talk about the other son who
stayed behind with his father, being obedient and faithful. The son who did everything well
according to his father's expectation.
When the second son asked his dad to divide his property, there was no help from the other son. He didn't share his wisdom and knowledge with his brother or helped him anyway.
Once a man called Joe who had a neighbour who never went to Church or practiced faith. While on Sundays Joe went to Church, his neighbour went fishing. Every time, the man saw Joe, he said, "come on Joe, let us go fishing" and Joe used to say, "No, I am going to Church". And one day, the man looked at Joe and said, "Every time I go fishing, I always invite you and how come you never invite me to Church".
Many people stopped coming to Church for various reasons such as not having anyone to take them to Church or having some indifference with others or angry at God and so on. And we who are filled with the gifts of the holy spirit should help them to come back to Church to experience once again the unconditional love of God. The god-given life is in everyone and everyone wants to complete their spiritual journey with the hope of entering into heaven and at the same time, they need our help who practice our faith, they need our help who are kind and compassion with one another. And all they need from us is just to tell them, "God loves you".
When the prodigal son came back home, there was a big celebration. His dad invited everyone for the celebration saying, "My son who was dead is alive now and he who was lost is found. come and celebrate with me". But the other son who was so faithful and did everything well got so mad at his dad and began to blame his brother and his dad. He even refused to enter into his own house.
Once a spiritual master had a neighbour who was leading an immoral life. Every time he saw the woman thought to himself, "This woman will definitely go to eternal punishment because she is not keeping the commandment of god and is leading a life of adultery". Then one day, the woman died and some months later the spiritual master also died. Then the angels and saints came to take the spiritual master into heaven and before entering into heaven, he saw the woman being there, so he refused to go in and got mad at god. Then God said, "Son, this child of mine was dead and is alive now because at the last moment, she felt sorry for her sins. she was lost but now she is found. come on in and celebrate with me".
When we have the ultimate experience of the love and kindness of God, when we are enlightened by the compassion and blessings of Jesus and when we are filled with wisdom and knowledge of the Holy Spirit, we become pure spiritual masters who accept all with who they are and help others to improve their lives in every possible way. And let us fulfill our spiritual invitation by helping others to know and love god more and more. Amen.

Second sunday of Lent

Today we celebrate second Sunday in Lent. Lenten disciplines such as prayer, fasting and
helping others call us to rekindle our spiritual life and thus to get closer to god our
father.Once a baby camel came to the mother and said, "mom, I am so depressed and I don't know
what to do?"Mom looked at the baby and asked, "what is wrong with you my child?"The baby camel asked, "mom...why do we have long legs and three toed feet and they are so
ugly?"Mom said, "we have long legs and three toed feet for reason. They help us to walk in the
desert".Then why do we have these long eye-lashes?The mother said, "these help us to protect our eyes from sand in the desert".The baby camel looked at the mother and asked, "mom...why do we have this big hump on our
back""Oh.. this is water storage. It helps us to live longer without water in desert"The the baby camel looked at the mother and asked, "Mom.. if we are created to live in
desert, what are we doing here in Toronto Zoo?"
some times we all struggle to fit on earth. we ask ourselves, 'if we belong to heaven and
if heaven is our real home, then what are we doing here on earth?'we have heavenly nature and are given soul that belong to heaven. We focus our thoughts,
ideas and actions towards God our father every day and then why are we here and how can we
connect ourselves with God?
we are here to know and love God and thus enter into heaven. we are here to love others as
we love ourselves.
Knowing and loving god helps us to enter into our real home that is heaven.And prayer is the way to know and love God. prayer takes us to God and open ourselves in
the presence of God.
Once a holy man was travelling with a group of people in a beautiful ship. All people came
together and prayer to god before the departure of the ship and the holy man didn't pray
and was just looking at them. Then before and after meal, the people prayed to God and the
holy man didn't. Then there came a big waves and the ship was almost going to sink, so
people came together and prayed to God to save them but the holy man was just standing
without praying. So the people got mad and came to the holy man and asked, 'how come you
are not praying and call yourself a holy man?.The holy man looked at them and said, "asking me to pray is like asking a fish in the water
to take a bath. I am always in prayer. Prayer should be a way of life. If we make our life
a prayerful one, then we will ready to face any situation.Today's gospel says when Jesus prayed his appearance of his face changed and his clothes
became dazzling white and there came Moses and Elijah and visiting them. He became heavenly
being. Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved son, listen to him". Yes, when we
pray without ceasing, we too will come to know that we belong only to God our father.
once a priest visited one of his parishioners who was sick at home. when he went his place,
beside his bed, there was an empty chair and the priest said, "how do you know that I am
coming and put a chair for me and the man said, father... for many years, I struggled with
my spiritual life and I didn't know how to pray and one day while I was talking to one of
my friends, he said to put an empty chair and imagining that Jesus is sitting on it and
then pray and now I feel so peaceful and every time I pray I feel that Christ is with me.
we all find different ways to connect ourselves with god. And when we explore our oneness
with God, then we too will radiate the love and light of Christ in the world. Amen.

First sunday of Lent

Today we enter into new liturgical season called Lent. These forty days of Lent invites us
to explore ourselves in the presence of God and others; it helps us to say, "yes" to the
love of God once again. Lent is not only about fasting, it is also about feasting and
celebrating our oneness with God our Father.

Today's gospel deals with three different temptations such as to go against God, against
others and against oneself.

1. The first temptation: Going against the love and kindness of God our Father;

once a king called all his wise men and asked, "what should I do to a person who kicked me
and slapped and spat on my face". The people who heard it were so furious and one person
said, "you should immediately execute the person". Then the other said, "you should behead
him in public". Everyone came up with different solutions. Then one person said, 'you
should kiss the feet that kicked you, you should kiss the hand that slapped you and adore
him". The king was surprised and asked him why. The man said, "my lord, no one has the
authority or power to do anything against you except your little son who loves you so
much".
yes, that is the relationship, Jesus wants us to have with God; Father and child
relationship. Even we go away from God, our relationship should stay the same. But when we
focus more on our physical needs as the tempter asks Jesus, then we begin to make stones
into bread, we forget to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
prayer helps us to get closer to God our Father.

2. The second temptation: Going against our neighbours and others;

Once there was a beautiful island where all the feelings lived such as happiness, joy,
sadness, love and so on. And one day, they were announced that the island was going to sink
and all the feelings got out of the island except love. Love waited until the last moment
and when the island had almost sunk, love decided to get out. Richness was passing by love
with big boat but refused to take with him. then the happiness said, "i am too happy to
take you with me and sadness said, 'i am too sad to take you with me". then at last time
came by and helped love to reach the dry land. Then love said to all, "only time is capable
of understanding how valuable love is". when we take time to be with others, we come to
know the meaning of love and life.
when Jesus was given authority to control over everything, he said," i am here to love and
serve God. when we spend time to love and serve humanity, we love and serve God. Fasting or
giving up the things that hinder us from loving humanity, we begin to serve God.

3. The third temptation: Going against oneself;

Once a man who was an alcoholic was criticized by all. His wife threatened him of leaving him
and his children never respected him. He was so depressed and helpless and nothing helped
him to stop drinking. Then one day, he met with his best friend who looked at him and said,
"Friend, I understand you. I love to accept as you are. when he heard that there is someone
who could accept him as he were, he experienced a big change in him and he, right there,
stopped drinking. He became a new man.
When people go against us, we too go against ourselves struggling to accept our limitation and conditions and try to blame God for everything. when we accept ourselves, there we will change for better.

During the season of Lent, let us explore ourselves in the presence of God and others. Amen.

Home coming

Prophets are not without honor expect in their hometown and among their own people.
In today’s gospel, we see Jesus coming to his hometown Nazareth and preaching the good news and doing miracles and wonders among his people. But his people rejected him saying, “We know him. His brothers and sisters are living among us. His father is Joseph the carpenter and His mother is Mary”. They ridiculed and rejected him.

Once all the intellectuals and scientists came together and decided saying, “we can do anything and everything. We discover and invent. We make and destroy things and we don’t need God anymore. So they called God and said, “god, we don’t need you anymore because we can do anything and everything without you. God accepted their conclusion and said, before I go away from you, “I would like to test you. Yes, can you make man as I did” they said, ‘it is every easy. So one of them bent down and took a handful of dirt to make man and god said, “Stop… right there. It is my dirt. Make your own’

We all need God and without him, nothing is possible. We may build and reshape things, we may discover and invent things but without god, we are nothing.
The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus because He was preaching about the love of God our Father. He asked people to love god with their whole heart, body and mind. He said that our God is not a punishing god but forgiving and forgetting god. He love never ends and His forgiveness has no limit.

Once an older woman came to a priest after Mass and said, “Father, last night Jesus appeared and talked to me. The priest looked at her and said, “That is wonderful. God bless you and go home” but she insisted and said,, “Father, Jesus talked to me last night” then the priest said to her, “the next time, when Jesus appear to you, just ask him about my sins”
Then she didn’t show up for two weeks and when she came again, the priest looked at her and asked, “Did Jesus talk to you and did you ask about my sins”. She said, “Yes, father, I did and what did he say, he said, he forgot all your sins”

Yes, our God not only forgives our sins and he also forgets all our sins. When Jesus preached the love and forgiveness of God, the people of Nazareth made fun of him saying he is just like you and me and then rejected him.
They did not accept him because he asked them to love neighbors and others as themselves.Once a rabbi asked him disciples, “how do you know the night is gone and the day is here?”
One of them said, “When you can distinguish a goat from a sheep in the distance then you may say that the night is gone and the day is here. The other said when you can distinguish a fig tree from a peach tree in the distance then you may say the night is gone and the day is here. Every one came up with different answers and the rabbi was not satisfied and answered saying if you see the face of your brother or sister in any human being, then you may say that the night is gone and the day is here”

Unlike the people of Nazareth, let us love God and accept others and thus celebrate our life each and every day. Amen.

The Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing

Today the Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

Today’s gospel says that Jesus went to synagogue on the Sabbath, as was his custom. Yes, we are basically spiritual beings and are called to deepen our faith in him each and every day. One of the questions from the Baltimore catechism is, “why did God create us?”
God created us to know him and love him and thus to prepare ourselves to enter into heaven, our eternal home.

After twenty-years, a man for the first time went to confession. When he entered into the confessional, he was surprised to see so many delicious chocolates on one shelf, on the other many magazines and on the other side, cigarettes and cigars and the confessional chair was also very comfortable and good. He then said to the priest, “father, I haven’t been to confession over twenty-years and I never thought this much change. Then the priest said to him, “get out… that is my side”.

One of the Ten Commandments says, “Keep the Sabbath holy”. When we come to Church on Sunday, we not only keep the commandment of observing the Sabbath holy but also build our faith community by helping others to know the love and kindness of God our father.

Once a family called me in Peterborough and said, ‘Father… we are not going to come to your church anymore and I asked them why and they said, “Because, somebody took our seat last weekend and we used to sit that place over twenty-years”.

God called us in a special way to continue the mission of our Lord Jesus. We are called to spread the good new of love and forgiveness of the Lord.

Today’s gospel says when Jesus stood up to read the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and he opened the scroll and read, “the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he sent me to preach the good news to the poor, heal the sick and give sight to the blind. And after reading, He looked at the people and said, ‘Today… the scripture has been fulfilled in your sight.

Yes, every time, we come to Church and share the communion, we are given the grace and blessing to say, The Good news is fulfilled in us. Every time we say Yes to God’s love, Every time we say yes to love others and forgive their wrong doings, the good news is being fulfilled in us. Amen.

Water into wine

Water into Wine

Where there is faith, there happens miracles and wonders. Where there are you and me who believe in the love and kindness of God, there we meet Jesus the miracle man.

Once a woman came to a priest and said, “father, my husband won ten million dollars in lottery but I am afraid to let him know because of his heart condition, please help me”. The priest said, “It is not a big deal, I can talk to him” then the priest looked at the man and said, “Joe, I have a question for you. If you will, let us say, or you won ten million dollars, what will you do?” the man thought for a while and said, “Father, if any miracle happens like this winning ten million dollars, I will donate five million dollars to the Church”. Imagine what happened, “the priest took a heart attack and died”.

In today’s gospel, we come to know the first miracle of Jesus that happened in Cana of Galilee. He does miracles and wonders for people who were longing for happiness and joy, who longed for a new beginning and meaning in their lives.

Miracle happens for those who have faith in Jesus. Every time, people came to him seeking healing and miracles, all Jesus asked them was, “Do you believe?” and then he said, “according to your faith, it will be done for you and go in peace”.

Once a man confessed his spiritual journey and said, “When my wife got cancer, I tried all my best to heal her with different medical treatments and we prayed to God night and day but nothing happened and my wife who battled with cancer for five years died and I stopped believing in God and miracles. Because no miracle happened and then one day, I met with a spiritual master and shared my story and he looked at me and then asked my wife’s death, I said, “on the day, she died I was with her. She looked so calm and peaceful and she said, “Thank you Joe for travelling with me and I am happy to go now”. Then the spiritual master looked at me and said, “Joe, you said that you don’t believe in miracles but you yourself became a miracle for your wife. You helped her to pass from this life to the next peacefully. You helped her to experience happiness and joy before her death”.

Yes, miracles are happening each and every day but we struggle to recognize them. We expect for miracles not realizing that we ourselves are miracles of God.

When Jesus touched the water, it changed into wine. And we are all in a special way touched by the love and kindness of God our father through Jesus the Lord. And we are his miracles who can make a different in people’s lives. Yes, today people are looking for love and forgiveness. They are looking for miracles and wonders. And let us be their miracles and let them know that God loves them all without condition. Amen.

Baptism of the Lord

Baptism of the lord

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the baptism of the Lord. When Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist, the gospels say that the heavens opened and there came a voice saying, “this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him”
Jesus began his public ministry, right after baptism, calling people to be his disciples and healing the sick, and preaching the good news to all.

Once a catholic priest, an Anglican minister and a protestant pastor met together to talk about bats problems in their churches. The Anglican minister said, “I tried all my best to chase the bats away from my church but they keep coming and I don’t know what to do”. Then the protestant minister said, “I even took all the bats outside of the town and threw them away but they keep coming. I don’t know what to do” And at last the Catholic priest looked at them and said, “I used to have bats problem in my church but not any more. They were all gone” the Anglican and the protestant ministers looked at the catholic priest and asked, “Please tell us what you did?” He looked at them and said, “I just baptized them all and they never came back”>

Baptism means Rebirth: through the sacrament of baptism one becomes a child of God. The original sin is being washed away by baptism and he becomes a new being.
Baptism means initiation: through the sacrament of baptism one is being initiated into the Church. He becomes a member of the holy Catholic Church that was built by the love and kindness of our lord Jesus Christ.
Baptism means consecration: Through the sacrament of Baptism, one is being consecrated into the church given power and authority to go everywhere to preach the good news of our lord Jesus Christ and let them know that God never stops loving them and thus bring them back into the fold.
Baptism means empowerment: through the sacrament of baptism, one is being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion: on the day of our baptism, God said to us, “you are my beloved children with whom I am well pleased. As we are celebrating the feast of the baptism of the lord, let us recommit ourselves to keep our baptismal promises namely loving God and our neighbors. Amen.