LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

One day a priest looked at his congregation and asked, “Those who do not have any enemy, please raise your hand”. No body did for a while and then at last an old woman raised her hand. The whole congregation including the priest were surprised to see that and then the priest invited her to the front and asked, “you know, even Jesus had enemies and how come you do not have any enemy?’ she said, “I outlived all my enemies” then every body clapped for her and in order to honor her, the priest said, since you do not have any enemy, I invite you to pick three hymns for the celebration today. And the old lady was so happy and looked at every one and then looked at the men and said, “him… him and him”.

Dear friends in Jesus Christ, today’s gospel is a very challenging and difficult one. It is not an easy one to practice; even His chosen apostles struggled to keep this commandment of love. We often hear of loving neighbor but today’s gospel invites us to love our enemies.

In the first part of the gospel, we hear how we have to tolerate others and thus they may come to know that we do not live our life according to the rules and regulations of this world but we lead our ever day life according to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Once a missionary who was getting ready to go to the tribes in Australia prayed to God for strength and then he opened the gospel to read some inspiring words of Christ and he read, “do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other also and if anyone wants to sue you and takes your coat, give your cloak as well. If they ask you to walk a mile, walk with them two…”

He then landed among the tribes in Australia and he learned that they were very horrible people. They were cannibals, eating people. When they saw him, they came to him and they began to mock him, laughed at him. They treated him very cruelly but he on the other hand did not do anything. He silently accepted every thing. Then he managed to preach the good news to them. Once they were all converted to Christianity, he built a beautiful church in the village. One day the missionary met with the head of the tribe and asked, “I know you are cannibals and you eat people and how come you did not eat me?” the head of the tribe said, “you see, none of us wanted to eat you because we eat people to acquire their skills and bravery but nobody wanted to be like you taking all insults and suffering and pain”.

Once Gandhi said, “ If we practice eye for an eye rule, then the whole world will be blind”. Yes, forgiveness and acceptance bring peace and happiness. If we apply Jesus’ rule of love, we will taste heaven every day here. The secret of life, happiness and joy lies in the teachings of Christ alone.

In the second part of the gospel, Jesus asks us to love our enemies and do good to them and pray for them. Sometimes we think that we are so good and every body likes us but the truth is there will always be a person who will not like us. We will be rejected for the way we speak, smile, laugh, eat, dress or have more friends. Anything we do, there will always be a person who will not like us. And how are we going to accept the person and love him or her. How are we going to do good things for them and pray for their health and improvements?

Once a man was ended up in the hospital after bitten by a mad dog. It looked as though he were going to die because the treatment for rabies was not working. So doctor came up to him and said, “by the way, the treatment is not working, this is the time to make your will and testament”. The man began to write his will. He was going on and on writing and one point the doctor said to him, “You are writing a long will…” the man said, “ no doctor, I am not writing my will… I am making a list of people, I am going to bite”.

How often do we pray for those who dislike and hate us? Jesus our Lord while he was hanging on the Cross prayed to his father saying, “father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing”. We all have enemies not because we did something bad to them, because they do not know us. They are not given the blessing to know and understand us. They are blessed to enjoy our company. They are away from us because they are not given the opportunity to experience our love and happiness.

So we should not hate or consider them as our enemies instead we should pray for them more and more and thus they will come to know our goodness especially they will come to know that we belong to Jesus who is full of love and kindness. They will come to know that we are forgiving people sent by God. Amen.

Let your righeousness exceeds

Let your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and the scribes

Dear friends in Jesus Christ, in today’s gospel Jesus tell us that our righteousness should exceed that of the Pharisees and the scribes. Yes, our faith, hope and charity should tell the world that we belong to Christ our Lord. Our generosity and helping others should proclaim to the world that we are followers of the Lord.

One day a man was telling his story of how he was lost in a desert. His friend asked, “what did you do then?’

The man said, “I knelt before God and cried saying, “God come and save me?”

His friend asked, “Did God come and save me?”

The man answered, “No. Before God, there came an explorer and saved me”.

There are so many people do not even realize the presence of God among them. God still continues His miracles and wonders and is constantly letting us know that He is with us. When we call on Him, there He answers us with love and kindness. The coming of Christ our Lord shows how much God loved and still loves us.

In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees and the scribes were considered godly people because they were priests, religious lawmakers and interpreters of the Holy Bible. They taught people how to pray and worship God and they were pious and good. Though many were not keeping what they were teaching, they appeared to be good and Jesus our Lord asked His followers to do better than those Pharisees and the scribes namely keeping God in their lives.

1. Jesus says when you offer your gift at the altar and if you remember your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go, first be reconciled to them and then come and offers your gift.

One day Abraham our Father of faith invited a stranger to his tent for a meal. While they were eating, the stranger began to curse God; he never stopped blaming God for everything that was happening in the world. And Abraham who was so faithful and obeyed the will of God got so mad and chased the stranger away in the cold weather. Then that night God appeared to Abraham and said, “That man cursed and accused me of everything but I still I fed him and looked after him. Could you not put up with him for a single meal?’”

When we accept our brothers and sisters as they are and do good for them, Jesus says that our offering in the church will be accepted and there will be a celebration over that in heaven. God loves those who love and accept others.

2. Jesus says, “Do not commit adultery”. It is an invitation to love and understanding. When love and mutual understanding lack in a family, there happens separation and divorce and all other relationship challenges. Man and woman are created to continue God’s divine love in the world. The husband and wife have a big responsibility of keeping this world as divine abode.

Once some friends met with their friends who was forty and was single. They asked him, “Look at us. We all got married and have children and you are forty and how come you did not get married yet?’ He said, “I was looking for a perfect woman. And I did find a woman who was so smart and good but not a beautiful one and then I did find a woman who was so beautiful and gorgeous but not smart and then I finally found a smart and beautiful good and gorgeous woman. Yes, I at last found a perfect woman. His friends asked, “Then how come you did not marry her. He said because she was looking for a perfect man.

Man and woman have to celebrate life and know how much God almighty blesses them. God chose them in a special way to represent His love and kindness in the world.

3. And then our Lord says that we have to reflect Him in each and everything that we do. By seeing us, people have to come to know Christ. St. Iraneus says Glory of God is the living man. A man who lives according to the law of the Lord brings glory and honor to God almighty.

Once a public sinner was excommunicated and was forbidden to enter into the Church. He then prayed to God saying, ‘God they do not let me in because I am a sinner” then God answered saying, “what are you complaining my son, said God, “they do not let me in either”.

Conclusion: let us find God in everything we do and say and thus exceed the righteousness of those Pharisees and the scribes. Amen.

Salt and Light

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

Once people asked a spiritual master and asked, “Master, what is the greatest hindrance to Christianity in our country?”

The Master looked at them and said, “Christians”. Yes, Christians who do not deepen their faith in the teachings of Christ become the hindrance to Christianity.

And in today’s gospel, Jesus asks his disciples to be salt and light to make this world a better place to live.

The important functions of salt are preserving food from going bad and adding taste to food.

1. The important function of a Christian in the world is protecting the world from bad, keeping the world a holy and divine place where others may find and experience God and His unconditional love. Once an old carpenter decided to quite his job so he went to his contractor and said, “ as you know, I am getting old and I need time to be with my family and friends so I have decided to terminate my work”. The contractor knew that he was a very good and faithful worker, so he said, “ Since you are going to terminate from your work, why don’t you build one more house. This will be your last house”. So the carpenter accepted but he was not that interested to build it so he used all cheap materials to build it. When the carpenter finished the job, the employer came to inspect the house and then he handed the key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you”. The carpenter was shocked. He said to himself, “ If I had only known that I was building it for me… I would have done it well” The world is our house and we are the carpenters what we make and build will directive affect our living. As followers of Christians we have to preserve the world and make it a better place to live.


2. As salt we are called to add taste and flavor to the world. By our life and example, we are called to add flavor to our society and community. Once day a son and his father were waking on the mountains. And the son fell and hurt himself and he began to cry. Then his cry reflected. He then asked, “who are you?” the he heard a voice saying, “who are you?” he looked at his dad and asked, dad what is going on here. The dad said, “son, people call this echo but really this is life” what we give, we get back and that is why we are asked to add more flavor to other’s life and then our life would be meaningful and tasteful. Then the son understood the meaning of life. Yes, we are called to be the salt of the earth and thus preserve the goodness in others and add flavors to others’ life.


3. The Jesus asks his disciples to be the light of the world. Jesus himself is the light and He says anyone who follows me will have light of life. We who follow the light will become one. Light cannot be hidden. It will shine in the dark. There is a beautiful story of St. Anthony of Padova. He was a very pious and active monk and He used to help in the kitchen such as making meals, cleaning the floor for other monks. He found god in his every day work and one day his superior who supposed to preach the gospel got sick and there were no monks around, so he called st. Anthony and said, though you do not know much about preaching, I appoint you to preach the gospel to the people only today. St. Anthony who was a very humble monk preached the good news and the way he preached and the way he talked about Christ inspired every one there. From that day onwards St. Anthony went the whole Europe preaching the good news. Yes, light cannot be hidden. We are called to shine before the world.


4. Conclusion: As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, let us commit ourselves to the love and kindness of Christ our lord and shine before others and the world. Amen.

Sermon on the mount

Sermon on the Mount

Sermon on the Mount

Today’s gospel is the famous teaching of our Lord Jesus called Sermon on the Mount. Jesus, in His every miracle and wonder kept the way to lasting happiness and joy. The famous philosopher Aristotle says that happiness is that which all men seek. We all struggle each and every day to find lasting happiness and joy. Some seek happiness in their jobs and every day work as the apostles, when the Lord called them to follow Him, they left behind everything and followed him because they found lasting happiness in his words and wisdom and some seek happiness in pleasing others as Martha but the Lord said, “Martha… Martha you are too anxious and bothered but Mary found a better way and it will not be taken away from her”. Yes to be with the Lord and listen to Him is the lasting happiness and joy.

In today’s gospel Jesus gives eight beatitudes for lasting happiness. Their values are not that of the world. He says. “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed and happy are the meek and humble. Blessed when you are hungry and celebrate when you are weeping”

All His beatitudes invite us to connect ourselves with God, with others and with ourselves for lasting happiness.

When we connect ourselves with God, we learn humility. We are nothing but dust but God created us in a special way. He created us in His own image and likeness and then Jesus asked us to call God, father. This very connection with God helps us to have prodigal son’s courage every time we fail and go back to Him as we are.

Jesus’ beatitude helps us to connect ourselves with others because they reflect God’s love and kindness. We learn to accept others as they are and make this world a better place to live. Those who humble themselves before God will know how to serve others as our Blessed Virgin mother did, as all the apostles and holy men and women did. When they deepened their faith in God, they did not go away from society and others instead they extended their love towards the poor and the needy.

And Jesus’ beatitude helps us in touch with ourselves. As we read the beatitudes, we come to know the secret to lasting happiness. We come to know that all His words will take us into spiritual fullness and joy. All our spiritual practices such as every day prayers, fasting and alms giving help us in touch with our own self and teach us to repeat the words of the Lord, “ Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God…

Yes we are blessed and be given lasting happiness when we connect ourselves with God and learn humility and we are blessed when we connect with others and know how to serve others without any hesitation and we are blessed when we accept everything for the sake of the kingdom of god. Amen.

Fourth Sunday

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Good morning every one. After hearing today’s gospel, we may ask these questions. Is the gospel about Joseph?
The Bible says only one word about Joseph. It says Joseph was a Just man. Just man means one who is honest and god-fearing. Joseph did everything according to God’s will. He went to synagogue to pray and kept the Ten Commandments. He put God first in everything He said or did.
His faith extended in helping others and be with his own community. And that is why when He found out that Mary was pregnant, he was afraid that the community would judge her and so he wanted to dismiss her quietly if not she would be stoned to death.
Because of his faith in God and service to community, he was blessed to communicate with divine creatures such as angles. When he was confused about Mary, The Angel appeared to him and directed him.
Joseph was chosen in a special way to be the foster father of Jesus.

And we may ask is today’s gospel about Mary?
1. Though Mary was chosen by God in a special way, the angel Gabriel came and announced the good news to her. Yes, God did not take her free will. He through the Angel asked her willingness. When Mary said, “Let it be done according to your will, then only things began to change.
2. Once Mary came to know that she was chosen by God, she began to be humble and simple. She began to be more active of doing things to glorify God and His will.
3. She too extended her faith visiting Elizabeth and others and helping them.
4. The Church today honours her for as the mother of God, ever virgin, immaculate Mary.

And we may ask is today’s gospel about Jesus the only son of God?
1. The very name Jesus was given by the Angel means Saviour. He came to save humanity and take them back to God almighty.
2. While all the prophets, kings and holy men and women failed to communicate the divine wisdom and knowledge, God at last sent His only Son Jesus who said, “ call God father”
3. Everything Christ our Lord said through miracles and preaching, wonders and words takes us to God our father.
4. Christ our Good shepherd made us children of god.

Dear friends today’s gospel is all about you and me. Yes it is about us. God’s divine plan is to let us know that we are not alone. In our happiness and joy, in our suffering and pain, God is with us. When we call upon him, there we will see him face to face.

Once a man knelt before God and said, “God… I can not go like this any more and I am going to give up and the cross that I am carrying is too heavy”. God appeared to him and said, “Son, I will never let you carry any cross that is too heavy for you” then he took to a room where there were so many crosses with different sizes. The man saw crosses which never had beginning or end. Some were too heavy and huge. Then he finally saw a small cross on the wall. He looked at God and said, “God, please let me take the cross” God smiled at him and said, “Son… that was the cross you were carrying before”. God never let us carry anything too heavy. And in order to prove his unconditional love, he sent his only son Jesus to us. And today’s gospel is all about you and me. As we are going to celebrate the glorious event of Christmas, let us make it more meaningful by sharing your love and forgiveness with your family members and friends. Amen.

Second sunday in Advent

WHO IS JOHN THE BAPTIST TODAY?

Today we celebrate the second Sunday in Advent. This Sunday is called John the Baptist Sunday. John the Baptist the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ came to prepare the way of the Lord. His message was: “The Lord is coming. Let us prepare the way”.

And today who is John the Baptist? We are John the Baptist. Like John the Baptist, we are asked to call out people to welcome the Lord our God.

John the Baptist message contained three important things namely 1. Calling 2. Healing 3. And living the message.

1. Calling:

Once a man was searching something under a hydro pole that was so bright, his neighbor who noticed that, went over and asked, “what are you looking for?’ The man said, ‘I lost my key’. So the man also joined him and the both began to search for the key. After an hour searching, the neighbor looked at him and asked, “by the way where did you loose your key?” the man said, “at home”. The man got mad and asked, “then why are you looking for it here?’

Then he said, “Because it is brighter here”.

They will always say, “search God where you have lost him”.

Some might have lost God in their marriage because they might have forgotten to renew their vows namely in good times and bad and in sickness and health, I will honor you and love you.

Some might have lost God in their children because they did not have enough time to be with their children especially with their teenage children.
Others might have lost God in their business and jobs because instead of enjoying what they do, they look at their jobs and people who were working with them as their enemies.

Then they come to church to find God but they get more stressed and depressed. Yes God should be found where we have lost him. John the Baptist invited people who lost God in their every day life. Dear friends when we help people to find God where they have lost Him, then we become John the Baptist today.

2. Healing

Once three Buddhist monks were traveling to a distant village to preach the message of Buddha and in order to reach the village, they had to cross a river. While they were standing at the banks of the river, they saw a beautiful woman standing and was afraid to cross the river, so one of the monks carried her on his shoulder and thus they all crossed the river. Then when they came back to the monastery, the other two monks went to every one and said what happened. Other monks came to him and asked, “We monks are not allowed to touch a woman and how come you carried a woman on your shoulder. The criticism went on and on for many days and one day the monk called everybody and said, “I did carry the woman on my shoulder but I left her behind many days ago but why are you all still carrying her?”

John the Baptist calling for healing made many people new and holy. They had the courage to leave behind their old way of life and say to others courageously, ‘we left behind the old life and moving forward to welcome the lord’. They all experienced complete healing. Dear friends, every time we help others to heal from their pain and suffering and give them courage to face their criticism that comes from their own family, friends and others, we become John the Baptist.

3. Living the Message:

Once a pious catholic had a neighbor who never practiced his faith. Every Sunday the Catholic went to Church and the neighbor went fishing. But the odd thing was, every Sunday, the man invited the catholic, ‘hi Joe, I am going fishing, are you going to join me” the man used to say, “I am going to Church”. It went on and on and then one day, the neighbor looked at Joe and asked, “Joe, every time I go fishing, I invite you but how come you never invited me to Church’ Joe could not say anything.

Living the message means helping others to know the love and kindness of God our father. When John the Baptist baptized people, He asked them to go out and help others to return to the Lord. And people helped each other and that is why a big crowd was always following John the Baptist.

Dear friends, when we help others to experience the Lord, then we become John the Baptist. Today the world needs Jesus; yes it needs His love a lot of love. So let us be John the Baptist and prepare the way of the lord. Amen.

Christ the king

CHRIST THE KING

Good morning every one. Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the king. Jesus who is our king and master and he died on the cross to bring back humanity to divine love.

Once there was a King who was famous for his judgment. He loved his people so much and he did everything for them. Milk and honey was flowing in his land. And one day, a man was brought before him. The man was accused of stealing and killing people; he was accused of destroying people’s life and property. The king listened to them all well and then he asked the man to say something but the man did not say a word, all he did was looking at the king. The king then granted justice saying, “This man was found guilty and I ordered him to be executed”. There was a deep silence because that was the first time a man was ever executed in his kingdom. Then the unexpected and extra ordinary thing happened. The king got up from the throne and took his king’s garment and robes and said to the people, “As a just king, I granted you all justice but now as the father of this man, I will take his place”.
The king said, “I will take his place and die”. This is called the summary of Christianity. Christ who is the king of all and just judge took our place and died for us all.

1. Christ the king said, “I am your servant and I came to serve and not to be served”. Servants were never treated well in those days and even today they are not respected. The owner of the house would call everybody by name and even he would call his dog with proper name but not his servant. Servants were never given names. They were their slaves and were treated miserably. And our Lord Jesus became a servant to humanity. In order to prove His service, He humbled himself and washed the feet of His disciples. And that is why God exalted Him above all else. Today we celebrate Him as our King and Messiah. When we serve others, when we do everything for the sake of humanity, then we will be exalted and we find meaning in everything we do, if not like a man once said, “I dig the ditch to make some money. I make the money, to buy some food and I buy food to get my strength and I get my strength to dig the ditch”, life will become meaningless.
2. Christ the king said, “I am the good shepherd and I feed my sheep with finest wheat. They know me and I call them by name. I came to look for the one sheep that was lost than the ninety-nine righteous people”. Once a tiny little sheep found a hole in the fence and through which he escaped. He went far away and forgot his way back. Then he realized that he was chased by a wolf. He ran and ran until the shepherd came and rescued him. Then he brought back to the fold. Then his friends came and advised him to repair or nail up the hole but he refused to do so. Yes, our lord gives us freedom to do everything and when we are in danger, He comes to rescue us. The freedom we have should help us to improve ourselves and others.
3. Christ the king says to the thief who said, “Please remember me in your kingdom”, “you will be with me in paradise this very day”. Our king is full of mercy and love. Today we need mercy a lot of mercy from our King.
Conclusion:
As we celebrate the feast of “Christ the king” today, let us celebrate our life. Let us also invite others to join us to celebrate the king who loves us unconditionally. Amen.