First Sunday in Lent

First Sunday in Lent-C
Once a priest who went for a nice walk in the winter was stopped by a thief. He showed the priest a big knife and demanded his wallet. As the priest was unzipping his winter coat, the thief saw his clerical collar and apologized him saying, "O Father, I am sorry I did not know that you are a priest". Then the priest said, "Shall I offer you a cigarette?" "The thief was shocked and said to the priest, "Oh..I am sorry, father, I gave up smoking for Lent".
Today the Holy Catholic Church enters into the first Sunday of Lent. The season of Lent is usually consisting of forty days of fasting, prayer and works of mercy and charity that began with ash Wednesday when  we received holy ashes on our forehead that remined of our dependency on God Almighty. That day we heard the words of the Bible namely ,"O soul, remember, Your body is dust and unto dust, it shall return"  and this lenten season concluds  at sundown on Holy Thursday. The color of Lent is violet.  During these forty days, we closely follow our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and died for our salvation.
Once there lived an amazing farmer in the island of Ireland. He was so happy to spend more time in his field and one day as he was dying, he asked his son to take him to the field where he reached down and clutched some soil onto his hands and died a happy man.
As he was entering into heaven, the angel asked him to let the soil go but he refused, so he was let outside.  Thousand years after, the angel again came to him and said, "come into heaven and let the soil go". The farmer again refused.  Two thousand years after, when the angel came to him, he decided to let the beloved soil of Ireland go. When he entered into heaven, the first thing, he saw was, his beloved Island Ireland waiting for him in heaven".
What we leave behind for the sake of others and for our own sake and what we sacrifice for the well-being of others, they will always be counted in heaven.
In today's gospel we see how our Lord Jesus Christ the king of the universe spent forty days and forty nights for our salvation and praying and fasting and at the end of fortieth day encoutered Satan who tempted Him.
Christ our Lord encountered three types or kinds of temptation namely physical, spiritual and material.
For the physical temptation, Christ our Lord said, “One does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God”.
Once a man who wanted to become a monk was adviced to do some reflection and meditation on his special call. while he was sitting comfortably to do so, he saw a beautiful woman walking by, and was distracted. The next day, he closed his eyes and was doing his meditation but he heard her walking by and was distracted again. The next day, he closed his eyes and ears and as she was walking by, he could smell her. So he covered his head with a brown bag and was doing his meditation. Time went by, when it was ten o’clock, his mind began to act out saying, this is the time, she supposed to walk by. where is she? where is she?
physical desire can stop us from loving God and his immense glory. And this season helps us to rethink our physical desires and if they stop us from going to God, we should improve ourselves during this season.
The second one is spiritual temptation. And Christ our Lord said, “Do not tempt God your Father”.
Once there was a religious man who prayed five times a day and fasted three times a week and did every thing according to the commandments of the Lord and one day as he was walking on a river bank, he fell in the water and cried to God saying, God help me. Then came fire fighters and then police and people to help him but he refused saying, ’God will come and help me”. But God did not come, he drowned. when he went to heaven, he said God how come you did not come to help me. God said, I was the one who sent all those people to help you but you refused. Do not tempt your Father. The difference between religious and spiritual people is religious people look for miracles but spiritual people become miralcles for others.
The third temptation of Christ is the mateiral one and to that Christ said, ’Worship the Lord and serve only Him”.
one day a man met with his friend who looked sad and he asked why. He said you know my uncle who died a week ago and left with me  a million dollar. yes you suppose to be happy and why are you sad because the other uncle who died two days ago also left me a million. wow now you have two millions and you should be happy and why are you looking sad. The man said I am sad becasue I do not have any more uncle to die.
material things will never fill the heart of a person. When we serve God and God alone, we will be given everything. Let us take advantage of this season and fill our hearts with love and kindness; with happiness and joy and thus become new and say no to our old self. There is a saying, "Satan tempts people and idle people tempt Satan". Let us keep ourselves busy of improving spiritually and find God. Amen.

Fifth Sunday-C

Fifth Sunday in year C
  Once after Mass, a pious lady met with the priest and she was crying uncontrollably. The priest looked at her and said, "is that anything wrong? I never sawd you being sad and crying. what happened? O Father, My husband died last night. I am so sorry to hear that. did he have any last wish or saying. yes, Father he did. what did he say. what was his last word. he looked 
at me and said, "O Maria, put down that damn gun".
Today's gospel passage brings out the complete mission of Christ our Lord. Right  after His baptism at Jordan, our Lord Jesus Christ comes to the lake shore of Gennesaret and there He preaches the Good News of Salvation. Though there were thousands of rabbis in the time of Jesus; though there were so many teachers of the temple and synogogue in the time of Christ and though there were many spiritual and religious leaders at that time, people did not go to them. People were not drawn or attracted to them because they taught people about a God of punishment and fear. But on the other hand, Christ our Lord showed them all the father-God, God who is full of compassion and love, about a God who is slow to anger and ready to forgive. And that is why the crowd was pressing in on Christ.  
once a dad and his son were travelling to a distant country by a ship that encountered a big cyclone. The son got so afraid and looked at his dad who was confortably sleeping. He woke his dad up and said, "Dad, are you not afraid that we are going to be perished. we are going to die". The dad laughed at him and said, "Son, God will look after us. you do not need to be afraid. Just believe in Him". The son was not happy to hear that. Then the dad took a knife and tried to kill his son. The son was not afraid of his dad at all. So the dad askey him why. The son said it is because you are my dad and you are not going to kill me. Then the dad said, "Son, God is our Father and why are you afraid of the things that happen around us?. He will never abandon us. And Jesus was talking about that God and asked them to call that God Father.
After preaching the love and kindness of God our father to people, He said to Simon Peter, "Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch" He answed Christ saying, "O Master, all night long we tried our best and we did not get anything at all. Since you are the light of the world and you say so, I will let the nets down".
First Christ our Lord was preaching people the good news and now we see how he is teaching Simon and others about the secret of trusting God. As we put our complete trust in the Lord, miracles will happen, not one miracle or two but thousands and thousands of miracles will happen to us every day.
Once a man was saying his friend, "I got lost in the desert for three days and knelt before God and prayed for his help". " Did God come and help you?" The man said, "NO, before He could, an explorer showed up and helped me the way"
Miracles are happening every day but we are incapable of recognizing them.
As Simon Peter listened to Christ, Miracles happened and there he instantly realized his humanness, his human weakness and knelt before Christ and said, "Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man". But out of love, He calls them to become aposltes of the Good News. He calls them to become fishers of people.
Once a man met with the spiritual master and said, "Last night God appeared to me and said that you have the precious stone that would make me the richest man in town. Please give me that stone". The master took a stone from his pocket and gave it to him saying, "I found it one the road. Take it and it is yours". The man was happy to receive the stone. The next day, the man came to the spiritual master and said, "I reflected all day long and found the truth. Keep this stone and please give me the riches that made you to give away this stone".
As Simon and others realized their humanness and limited human frailties, Christ our Lord showed them the way to catch people. The true riches of being with Christ and helping others to know the kindgdom of god.
Dear friends, we are too given to the true riches to be with Christ and enjoy His love and forgiveness. We are blessed becasue we are here listening to His divine words and experiencing His presence among us. And we are also called to become fishers of people namely spreading the good news of salvation to all. We are as we celebrate the year of mercy asked to be merciful like the Father. God bless.

Christmas

The glorious birth of Christ our Lord

Good evening every one, on behalf of this beautiful church of Saint Jean de Brebeuf/ Saint Paul the Apostle/ Our Lady of Good Counsel, we would like to extend you all a very blessed, faith-filled glorious birth of Christ our Lord.

“People who walked in the darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shined”. “An angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone upon them”. The presence of the Lord in the midst of His people cancels the sorrow of defeat and the misery of slavery. People who longed for the coming of Christ and people who did everything according to the will of God began to celebrate and we are in a special way called to celebrate life because Christ is born among us.

Today we celebrate the biggest event that has ever happened in human history, the unimaginable thing; yes God the Creator, the Source of all became human and lived among us like you and me. Today’s celebration of the glorious event of the birth of Christ the Only Son of God tells us that God never abandons His people. His love surpasses everything.

When His own chosen people whom He loved without condition went away from Him, when His own people faced with pain and difficulties; when His own people began to worship false gods and rejected His glorious mercy and compassion, God the Father did not abandon them. He knew people’s condition. He knew people were weak and fragile and He knew that they would come back to Him. And in order to bring them back to Him, He sent His kings, prophets, Holy men and women to them. Then at last, as the expression of His unconditional love, God sent His Only Son Jesus Christ Our Lord through whom everything came to exist and for whom everything was created. Yes, God sent His Son the Holy Redeemer Jesus our Lord.

Jesus who was born in Bethlehem lived with poor, outcaste and rejected people and at the age of twelve, He manifested divine love at the temple in Jerusalem telling all the teachers, wise men and Pharisees and Sadducees that God loves everyone and everyone belongs to the kingdom of God.

At the age of thirty while He was baptized, the heavens opened and there came a voice saying to all, “this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him alone”. Then Christ our Lord with His disciples went everywhere preaching the Good News of Salvation to all. Jesus again and again says in the gospels that anyone who follows Him will have life everlasting and they will be with God Father forever.

Dear friends, every time we celebrate the miraculous birth of Jesus our Lord, we celebrate our birth, and we celebrate our joy and happiness. Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Today we celebrate our new life in Child Jesus. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we celebrate Christ’s birth, every time we receive anyone of the churches sacraments, we celebrate His life and every time we come here, we become like Christ our Lord, yes we become the God we worship. Today, what is our gift to child Jesus? Since everything what we see and have belongs to Him and what can we possibly give Him? We can give ourselves. Yes, we are the precious gift for Him. Let us give ourselves to child Jesus and join the angels and the shepherd and sing, “Glory to God in the Highest and peace to people of good will”. Amen.

3rd sunday of Advent-C

Gaudate (Joyful) Sunday

A husband thought of buying something nice for his wife for Christmas and asked the store-keeper, “I am here to buy something nice for my wife for Christmas”. The store keeper showed him a beautiful perfume bottle this is J. Lo brand only $ 50 bucks. That is too much, please give me something cheaper and he showed a $30 dollar perfume and he wants to go a little cheaper and he showed him a $15 perfume and he still wants to go cheaper saying, “I want to see something really cheap”.  So the store clerk said, “You can see really cheap here and thus hand him a mirror”.

Today we celebrate the third Sunday in Advent and this Sunday is in a special way called as Gaudete Sunday or joyful Sunday. This Sunday prepares us to celebrate the glorious birth of Christ the Messiah.

People who came to John the Baptist to be baptized, even before receiving their baptism, asked him, “Please tell us what we should do”. The tax collectors came and asked the same question, “Please tell us what we should do?” And the soldiers came asked about they had to do.  Every day people came to him and people who were holding power and positions came to him. They all came knowing that they were away from God and others and themselves.

Though in the time of Jesus, they were many Pharisees, leaders of the temple and religious leaders who talked about God and spiritual things, people did not go to them wanting to know what they had to do to welcome the Messiah. It is because their teachings and life-style did not agree with each other. It is because they imposed rules and regulations; rituals and customs hard to follow and it is because they wanted to be called Rabbi and masters; they wanted to be recognized as spiritual leaders and guides and they wanted to have best seats at celebrations and they prayed standing outside of the temple to be known by all. Christ our Lord called them as white washed tombs and that is why people did not go to them.

But on the other hand, people from every walks of life came to John. John’s main message to welcome the Messiah is “help others especially those who are in need”

Once a rabbi visited a Catholic monastery and while he was talking to the Abbot or the head monk, he said, “O Rabbi, I do not know what to do because this monastery used to be so famous. We had so many monks and people used to come from different walks of life to listen to our spiritual thoughts and guidance but now people stopped coming and we do not have many monk left either. We are now left with few monks and I do not know what to do. The rabbi listened everything and the next day as he was leaving the monastery, he looked at those monks and said, “One of you is the Messiah”.  They were all shocked to hear the message. Then things rapidly changed in the monastery. Every monk began to look at themselves and others as though they were the Messiah. They began to treat others and themselves with love and kindness and within a month, people began to come back to monastery for spiritual directions and celebrations and many men especially young men joined their order to become monks. Everything happened because of the way they began to treat others and themselves.

If we have more material things and have more spiritual things and have more wisdom and knowledge, it is our duty to share with those who have little. It is in our sharing, we find God and it is in our sharing, we prepare the Messiah in our midst.

I have seen and witnessed many people doing amazing job for others especially helping others in need. And some of them after a while get so frustrated saying, “Everything I do for them but in return I get nothing” And on the other hand, there are people keep helping and doing things for others and still they are so happy and excited. It is because they know that they are not doing for their self-glory and it is because they know that they are doing everything for the welfare of others and especially for the glory of God.

As we love and forgive others, the world will become a good place to live.

Once a boy ran away from home. The dad did everything he could to find him but nothing happened and at the end, he put an ad in the local newspaper saying, “Dear Joe, I love you so much and whatever happened between us is forgiven and forgotten. Please do come back. I will be waiting in front of the newspaper office tomorrow noon…” The next day, when the dad went to see his son in front of the newspaper office. He saw something unexpected. Yes, he saw including his son Joe, more than fifteen Joes waiting for their dad”.

As John the Baptist was talking to people with love and compassion; with divine authority and power, people began to think that John might be the Messiah. Sometimes the imitators could easily look like the original. The student could manifest the teacher in him. Today we need Christ’s love and we need Christ’s forgiveness and His compassion. Today Christ could completely be manifested only by His followers as the apostles did or John the Baptist is doing today’s gospel.

And then John looked at them all and said, “I am not He. He is more powerful than I am and I am unworthy to untie the thong of His sandals. I just baptize you with water but Christ the one who is coming will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion:

What is the best gift we could possibly give to Christ on the day of His glorious birth day? Is it enough to leave our sins behind? Is it enough to help others in name of Christ? What could be our best gift to Christ? The best gift is giving ourselves. Yes, let us give ourselves to Christ and celebrate this Christmas a meaningful one. Amen.

Second Sunday in Advent

John the Baptist Sunday

Good morning every one, welcome to celebrate today’s Holy Mass. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we are asked to become John the Baptist and help others to experience the love and kindness of God our Father and every time we come to Church, we are called to be forerunners of Christ our Savior showing the way to people who are away from God and every time we come here, we are called to become children of God.

For one Christmas, man decides to get a dog for his son. As he is coming home, he sees a sign saying, “Talking dog for sale”. He rings the bell and the owner says the dog is in the 

back yard. As he sees the dog, he asks the dog, “Do you talk?” The dog says, “Yes, of course. I discovered the gift of talking when I was a child. I used to serve the Canadian military overseas helping the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was the one who helped to kill Bin laden. With my wisdom and knowledge, I helped Stephen Harper to move around the country freely. I have a wife and many puppies and now I am just taking it easy. I could be a good help to you”. The man asks the owner, “how much do you want?’ the owner says, “Just ten dollars”. The dog is so amazing and how come you are selling it so cheap. The owner says, “Because he is full of lies”.

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 saying, “The Lord is coming and let us prepare the way”.  On this day, we are in a special way, called to become John the Baptist. It is our duty like John the Baptist to call out people to prepare the way to welcome the Lord our God.

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

Ø  Calling:  There is a story about a man who went to a spiritual Master and said, “Master, I want to find happiness. In search of happiness, I studied the scriptures and visited all the holy places and did everything according to the commandment of God. But I could not find happiness, what should I do?” At this point, the master began to serve him tea. He poured the man’s cup full and then kept on pouring and pouring. Since the cup was full, tea began to spill on the floor. The man then stopped the master and said, “My cup is full. Please stop pouring”. Then the master looked at him and said, “Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. And how can I show the way unless you first empty your cup?’ How can we welcome Christ, how can we enter the Promised Land with Him, if we have no place in our hearts for Him? The Lord is calling us to go to Him. The calling of God is constantly invite us to prepare ourselves and help others. Let us leave behind what hinders us to go to Him and welcome the Lord our God.

Ø  Healing

Once two monks were traveling to a distant village to preach the message of Christ 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 monk went to everyone 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.

Ø  Living out

Ø  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 out 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.

Today Christ our Lord says whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.  I invite you all to reflect on Christian leadership today. This leadership is centered on relationship. It is modeled after Christ’s teachings and example and this leadership is empowered by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and Christian leadership is directed by God’s kingdom vision.

Once a group of nuns who were sent to do higher studies from mother Teresa’s order came back as medical doctors, nurses, teachers and engineers and they all came to Mother and said, “Mother, where is my office and where is my private place to practice my position and do you know what Mother Teresa did, she sent them all to the dying and sick and asked them to hold their hands and serve them for six months saying they are your office and your masters and learn from them. Be a servant and then you become first.

1.     The priority of relationship in Christian leadership: Our God is one in essence but three in person. There is a dynamic and mutual self-giving of three persons. We cannot separate the father from the son or the son from the third person. They are all connected with each other mutually and we are created in the image of God and in order to realize that image and that likeness, we need relationship with one another. How can I become a leader? The only Christian way is serving others and being with others and realizing that others are also divine image and likeness. Yes, Christian leadership is centered on relationship.

2.     It is modeled after Christ’s teachings and example Christian leadership is so unique because it is based on the servant-leadership of Christ Himself. Christian leadership is both counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. Unlike secular leaders, we do not hold any prominent place among people instead we serve and look after the needy. Christ is the center of Christian leadership and they have to lay down their lives for their sheep. They have to have courage and strength to go before the sheep and face dangers and difficulty like Christ our Lord did. Christ-centered leadership brings Christ to others not like the secular leaders.

3.     Christian leadership is empowered with the gifts of the Holy Spirit:  All those reconciled to the Father in the incarnation of Christ our lord have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the primary function or action of the gifts of the holy spirit is transforming people into loving community through shared service to one another.  All Christians have received a Charism to serve one another. We are all members of the same body and our head is Christ our Lord and Every member of the body has to work together achieve harmony and unity.

4.      The Vision and Mission that Drives Christian Leadership

5.      Christian leadership is unique because its mission derives from the kingdom vision of the Lord Jesus Christ.

6.      The church is a product of mission -- a sign of God’s saving purpose. God’s eternal purpose is to reconcile humanity to himself through Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:11). The church is the first-fruits of this universal redemptive mission, existing solely because of God’s divine initiative demonstrated in his saving work through Christ. As God’s new creation, the church is a sign of God’s grace and love to a lost world, consisting of people reconciled to God and one another and liberated to love God and others.

7.      The church is a people of mission -- sharing in God’s saving purpose through witness. The church exists for a greater purpose than the good of the church. The church is not only a sign of God’s saving purpose in the world, but also shares in God’s saving purpose through her witness of God’s grace in word and deed (Matt. 28:18-20). For this reason, the church is not called to depart from the world, but rather, to be a witness in the world of God’s saving grace offered to all people (John 17:14-26).

8.      Because of this great responsibility, every member shares a leadership role, for all are called to lead others to Christ through the corporate witness of the faith community sustained by the personal faithfulness of each member. Making the Gospel attractive to outsiders is a prominent part of the church’s witness (Matthew 5:13-16; Titus 2:7-10; 1 Peter 2:11-12). This can only be done when the church recognizes her larger purpose and seeks to testify by word and deed to the reality of God’s grace, acceptance, and love.

9.      In light of the church’s participation in God’s kingdom mission, two practical principles are offered:

10.   Christian ministry is driven by the kingdom vision of Christ. Like all organizations, a vision drives the mission. In the case of the church, the vision that drives the mission is God’s ultimate intention and goal revealed in his saving purpose, namely, a completely transformed cosmos filled with people reconciled to God and one another to the glory of God. Or, put more compactly, the vision is a kingdom vision. The church recognizes that God’s purposes will be fulfilled. It is impossible to thwart God’s kingdom purpose because God’s kingdom presently exists through Christ and in the Spirit, guaranteeing a future glorious consummation. Therefore, only things done in accordance with God’s redemptive purpose have any real lasting value. For this reason, the church “seeks first his kingdom” (Matthew 6:33).

11.   The priority of the kingdom in shaping Christian vision and mission cannot be lost or else the church will be tempted to substitute a human vision for God’s kingdom vision. Christian leaders fully realize that human sin, selfishness, and lovelessness will always hinder the corporate “seeing” of the divine vision of the kingdom. As Williams and McKibben write, it is easy to “follow human tendencies to substitute another ‘vision’ for the vision we choose to ignore or can no longer discern. Then we have replaced the vision of the Kingdom with ‘our vision.’”[11] It is in light of this danger, that the following (and final) principle is offered.

12.   Christian leadership must continually articulate the vision of God to those inside and outside the community of faith. Due to human sin, God’s kingdom vision is easily forgotten by those within the community of faith, and easily disregarded by those outside. Because of this, Christian leaders must continually articulate God’s kingdom vision in order to reorient those within and to reach those without. Christian leadership that does not continually articulate the missional stance of the church runs the danger of becoming withdrawn, inbred, and powerless.[12]

13.   For those within the Christian community, the kingdom vision of Christ is needed to focus, guide, and direct efforts. Vision is vital for “[v]ision is the picture that drives all action. It conveys an image of where you want to go and how you want to get there... vision is the source for a person’s sense of purpose and goals… ‘For the secret of man's being is not only to live but to have something to live for.’”[13] In short, “[v]ision focuses effort; it inspires action, and it validates decisions.”[14] Once the vision is firmly entrenched in the community, the Christian leader must seek to articulate strategies, goals, and activities to implement and achieve the vision.

14.   In order to maintain focus and direction, a Christian leader must clearly, concisely, and continually present the corporate vision to the church. A clear sense of identity and mission cannot be sustained without this constant reminder. “Planning and implementation (no matter how well done) cannot compensate for knowing who we are, why we're doing what we're doing, and for whom we are doing it.”[15] FOUR PEOPLE
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

15.  

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

six sunday of Easter and Mother's day

Mother’s day and Love One Another As I have Loved You
I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. Our Special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and every one here today.
Dear friends, Every time we come to Church, God Almighty gives once again blesses us to love one another as Christ has loved us. Every time we come to here, Christ the only Son of God showers upon us His Holy Spirit to know the gift of love that is given to us all and every time we come to Church and receive the body of Christ our Lord we become like Him full of love and kindness.
As we celebrate Mother’s day tomorrow, let us thank God for our mothers who sacrifice so much for our well-being and growth and pray for all women who promote justice and peace in the world.
Once a Sunday school teacher looked at one of the boys and asked, “Joe, tell me, do you really pray before meal at home?’ The boy said, “No...Sir”. Why don’t you pray? He asked and Joe said, “Because my mom is a good cook”.
A mother knows what her children need. She spend all her time, energy and resources for the growth of her children. She not only loves her children and but also teaches them how to love one another. A mother shapes the future of a society.
Once a little boy forgot his lines in the school drama in which he was participating. His mother who was sitting in the front row helped him whispering, “Say, I am the light of the world....” The boy was so happy because he got the line and said proudly, “My mother is the light of the world”.
Mothers radiate divine peace and serenity in the world. They sacrifice their happiness and joy for their family and children. And that is why God’s love is compared to that of a mother.
There is a beautiful biblical story of the wisdom of Solomon in which we come to know the true love of a mother.
Once King Solomon was asked to give a verdict on a case in which two women claimed for one child. They both said strongly that the child belonged to them. Then Solomon said, “Bring me a sword and cut the living child into two and give half to one and half to the other”. Then one mother came forward and said, “ My Lord, please do not cut the child into two. give the child to her”. But on the other hand, the other woman said, “Cut the child into two and I will be satisfied”.
Then the king spoke up and said, “No mother wants her son dead. She is the mother because she wants her child to live so, give her the child”



Motherhood is spiritual in nature and it can only be identified with sacrifice and
love. we say faith begins at home. yes, faith begins at home because of mothers. when a mother has a strong faith, her children's faith will be stronger.

Once a mother who had three sons, received gifts and presence from them for mother's day. The first son beautiful big house for her. The second one got a nice BMW car and the third one a parrot who
could recite the whole bible. Then she sent a thank you note to each of them. she said to the first
one, "Son, since I am getting old, I don't need a big house and I can't accept your gift" To the
second one, she wrote, "Son, I am not driving anymore and I can't accept your gift. Then she
wrote to the third one, "Son, you are the best. And thank you very much for your precious gift
and by the way, the bird was so delicious”.
Conclusion: Christ our Lord invites us to love one another as He has loved. So let us extend our love to those who are in need. Amen.