NO to two Masters-25

No to two Masters-C
Good evening everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for today's Holy Mass. Our special welcome to all our parishioners, visitors and every one here today. Let us thank God almighty...now let's prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ, calling to our mind...
One thing I realized these days that being multi-lingual is not an easy thing. You can easily be judged. On the other day, I talked to one of my friends in Sudbury and for something she said, "Thank you". And I said, "Prego". Prego in italian means "You are welcome". She did not like me saying 'prego'. I said, "it's italian...prego mean you are welcome'. I think it's better to stick with one God, one language and one hour. Oh did I say why she did not like me saying, "prego" because she thinks I am teasing her becasue she is pregnant.
Once two priests were working in a parish but they didn't get along well. They were criticizing each other. And once in a parish event, one of the priests thanked people and said, "you all know that Fr. Matthew and I are not getting alone well. It's because he does everything his own way and I do God's way.
Once Fr. Matthew was speeding and was stopped by the police. He said, "Oh there are five hundred people are waiting for me to say mass". But this did not go well. So he tried another method. he said, 'My diocese is so poor and they don't pay me well. Please let me go and I am a poor preacher'. The police officer looked at him and said, "I know Father...I heard it".
In today's gospel, Christ our Lord says that we cannot serve God and wealth. We can not have two masters. Yes, we can not walk with God holding hands with the devil. The law of human nature is that our supreme affectiion can be fixed on only one object. There is nothing more spiritually practical and practically spiritual than an investigation into proper Catholic attitude and approach towards material possession.
We Catholics should clearly understand that materil things are not bad at all. They are very necessary to improve our quality of life on earth. Other wise, every Catholic church you go, the priest, the finance committee or other organizations will not ask for money. Every time we go to church and that is all we hear, 'money..money and more money'. And that is why I stopped asking for money...I am seriously thinking of accepting debit and credit cards.
Though some say that Church does not have any authority to talk about economic, finance and business life and church should stick with religious and faith matters because economic, finance and business life are secular matter. It is not true at all. We should know that there is no purely independent secular realm at all. Everything comes from God and goes back to Him alone. The two important social principles of the catholic church are subsidiarity and solidarity. If you ever want to read a church document on  social teachings please read the document called Centissimus annus by Pope John Paul ii. We should work hard and share the benefit with others especially those who are not given enough opportunity like us and thus make the world a better place to live. But on the other hand, if we hold on to our material possessions saying, 'I worked hard and it's mine and then we begin to serve not God but money'.
I remember that beautiful story of a police rabbi. Once a visitor went to see him and noticed the rabbi did not have anything in his house at all. He asked him, "Are you a minimalist? where is you furniture and where are your books?" The rabbi asked the visitor, "Where is your furniture and where are your books?" The man laughed and said, "I am just a visitor and why should I carry them with me". The master said, "So am I my friend...so am I".
If we have the same approach towards life then we will work hard and do everything for the glory of God.
Once I asked the shool children what they wanted to do in the future... most of them said, "they all want to make money..." It is parents duty today to help them to know God and spiritual things. "If you give a pig and a boy anything they want...do you know what you will get? A good pig and a bad boy.
We have a very powerful mind and it has to be occupied all the time and if not, it will create problems.  It will hold on to God or money. As we train them to use our material things to serve God and then we could easily say that we are serving God. We are called to serve God and Him alone.
There are misconceptions that if anyone decided to serve God, he should  be prepared to live a sad and boring life. There is a social stigma attached with people who practice their faith and come to church today. But people serve God are those who are actually happy. We are again and again reminded that God is with us. Yes, when God is with us, who can be against us. So let us serve God using all other God-given gifts and talents. Amen.

The Lost Sheep...
Good morning every one. I am so happy to welcome you all for today's Holy Mass, our special welcome to all our visitors and parishioners and every one here today. Let us thank God almighty for sending His Only Son the Good Shepherd to be with us for ever. Let us thank Him for showering upon us His countless blessings each and every day. Now let us take a moment to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ...
Last last an amazing lady called me from Douro saying, "Father, I hope you are coming to our Douro doing and when you come, come with your clerical collar and you will get free meal". I was so shocked to hear that...With my clerical collar for a free meal.  Do you know how many years I spent to get this collar. I spent so many years studying philosophy and so many years studying theology and all the hard preparation to become a priest and  you say... come with your clerical collar for a free meal. Then I said, "Since you are saying its a free meal...ofcourse I am coming with my clerical collar".
Last week I called my mom and the line was so busy for two hours and I knew exactly who was talking to my mom. So later, I called my sister and said, "what were you talking to mom?". If she does not want to say she would usually say, "That is girls talk". And she wasn't happy for what I said.  I said, "Mom doesn't need girls talk all the time. She needs some intellectual talk too..."
Once a devout man lost his favourite bible as he was doing some outside job. But fortunately three weeks later, a sheep walked up to him carried the bible in its mouth. The man took the bible out of its mouth and looked up to heaven and exclaimed with a loud voice and said, "Its a miracle..". The sheep looked at him and said, "Not really. Your name is written inside the cover".
A man at the movie theatre notices what looks like a sheep sitting next to him. "Are you a sheep?" asked the man. "Yes, I am" said the sheep. The man asked, "What are you doing at the movie theatre?". The sheep said, "Because I liked the book so much".
Saint Luke's gospel chapter fifteen is called 'God's lost and found department'. They are the stories of the lost the sheep, the lost coin and the lost son or prodigal son.
Let us today meditate upon the 'lost sheep'. It's human to be lost and it's divine to find. It's human to go way from God and it's divine to get closer to man. The story began at the garden of Eden. As Adam and Eve went away from love, peace, harmony and prosperity and were hiding from God, something unexpected happened to them. God as they thought would go away from them, came to them searching. That is our God. He will never go away from us.  Searching, saving and shouting are the nature of the sacred heart of Christ our Lord.
Christ is the Lord who is searchig us constantly.  Once as a sheep went away from the fold wandering and not knowing the way back home. That was the time, the sheep saw that lone wolf who looked so busy. The wolf looked at the sheep and said, "you look lost...I know your family, your father and mother used to be my friends and unfortunately they were killed by some ferocious animals. I could take you back to your place but unfortunatly I am so busy. I am going to work. I have to work because people depend on me. My wife is sick and one of my children has down syndrome. They all need help. I don't have a good insurence and OHIP does not cover some of her medication either. But I feel so bad for you and I want to help you. One thing I could do, I will take you to my house first and stay there till the afternoon and then as I come back from work, I will lead you home. The lone wolf drew a perfect plan and the lost sheep accepted. As the lost sheep was following the lone wolf  the good shepherd came and rescued him. As the good shepherd was carrying the lost sheep on his shoulders, he noticed the lost sheep was still texting the lone wolf...so instead of getting mad at the lost sheep, He began to love him more. That is our Lord Jesus Christ who is in constant search of us. Though we fall into the same sin again and again, He never leaves us lone. His search and love continue.  It looks sometimes we find a way to escape from the shephed.
Once a priest announced in the church saying, "please turn off your cell phone and no text either...' and as he was doing the mass, someone's cell phone began to ring louder. Everybody was looking everywhere and then they found out that was Father's cell phone.
Once a BMW stops at a remote village and man with Armani suit, Gucci shoes and Ray Ban sunglasses gets out and looks at the shepherd and says, " "If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"
The Shepherd says, "Sure, why not". Then he with his GPS naviagation system using Nasa satelite scan the location, within the minute he says, "you have exactly thousand and twenty-four" sheep. That is right. Now you can pick up any sheep you want. The man picks up a one that looks so beautifyl. Then the shepherd says, "If I say what business you are doing, will you give me my animal back". The man says, "of course.." you are a consultant. how do you know that. Because you showed up yourself without invitation. You want to get paid for what I already know... now give my dog back.
Once the shepherd finds the lost sheep, there will always be celebration. After finding the sheep, he calls every one to celebrate. When the prodigal son came home, the dad invited everyone saying, "This son of mine was dead and now he is alive. This son of mine is lost and now he is found...Rejoice with me".
Every time we go to the Father using the sacrament of Reconciliation that is all we again and again hear that we are His and though we go away from him, He will find us and thus he will celebrate our reconciliaiton to Him, to others and ourselves.  The Lord is our shepherd and let us go to Him who leads us to green pastures and feeds us with life that will never end. Amen.

23rd Sunday in year C

Once genie appeared a man and said, "Ask for two wishes and I will give them". The man was so excited and said, "I want to have a million dollars and then he said, "I would love to have a perfect woman in the world". So gues what... he ended up having million dollars and Mother Teresa next to him.
The famous Mother Teresa joke is as she went to heaven, she could right away see god. God asked her whether she was  hungry. When she said Yes. god opens a can of tuna fish and makes sandwitches. And while eating she could see people in hell eating cooked gourmet food. Mother teresa was seeing for days, people in hell eating well. So she asked God saying, "God, please don't think that I am complaining but I am curious how come people down there eating well and here we are eating just tuna sandwitches. God said, "Why cook... we are just two of us here".
Tomorrow it takes place the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa. Yes, the Holy Catholic Church will honor her as a saint. Mother Teresa who was born in Albenia went to India and there she dedicated herself to help the poor and the needy. She left behind everything for Christ.
Once she went and asked help from a rich man. The rich hindu man was not happy to see a catholic nun asking for help. So he said no to help her and then he spat on her hand. Mother Teresa smiled at him and said, "This is for me and now please give me something for the poor". The man was so ashamed of himself and later he became one of her benefators.
Today's gospel invites us to follow Christ our Lord. In order to follow Him, we have to hate rather leave behind or separate ourselves from worldly possessions namely materil things and worldly relationships and put God first in everything that we do as Mother Teresa did. She left everything behind for Christ and once when Pope Paul the sixth visited India, he wanted to meet Mother Teresa. But Mother Teresa said, "I am so busy helping the poor and please ask him to wait.... the pope was so impressed her work and said, "you are Christ's face to the world today".
Today's gospel says those who do not give their possessions can not become Christ's disciples.
Those who are closer to Christ; those who pray daily, read the Bible and practice their faith know that they are not human beings looking for worldly possessions but spiritual beings having human expereince and then it becomes easy for them to leave behind worldly things. They will not go after worldy things but on the other hand, they will come to them. They will use their gifts, knowledge, wisdon and understanding for the welfare of others and promote love and kindness of God in Christ Jesus.
Once Mother Teresa was asked about where she gets the strength and energy to do great things for the poor. She said, "I spend every day an hour before the blessed Sacrament and there I get my strength and ther I get my energy".
Mother Teresa said, "If you can not feed hundred people, just feed one".
Once Mother Teresa was talking in a Cathedral church in Ireland. And that night, a man called the parish priest and said, "I want to become a parishioner of the cathedral'. The priest asked why. The man said, "it is becasue Mother teresa talked to me". What do you mean she talked to you. there were five thousand people in the Church and When did she talk to you. Every word she said was ment to me. What did she say, "she said, "God bless you all". The priest was not happy at all and said, "Every sunday and even every day when I say Mass, I say God bless you. Then the man said, "She said, "God bless you" from the bottom of her heart. Mother Teresa changed the hearts of millions and today the catholic church canonizes her as a saint. So we can ask her to intercede for our needs with God.
Conclusion: The three most dangerous words in english language today is "Just in Case'. yes, there are so many people love to accumulate things saying just in case. just in case I need them. just in case I use them later and just in case....If we remove these three dangerous words from our dictionary, then we will easily hold on to Christ who is the way to the Father.
Once a poor begger gave fifty cents to Mother Teresa and said, "So many rich people give you money and I want to give you what I got today for the poor and then Mother Teresa said, " this poor begger gave me more than my nobel prize becasue he gave everything that he had".
I am so lucky to meet Mother Teresa in Rome Italy. And after meeting her, one thing that I can say that there is a mother Teresa in everyone of us and let us leave behind things that stop us from loving God and others and hold on to Christ the richest gifts of all, the richest relationships of all. Amen.

I was so lucky to meet Mother Teresa in Rome Italy and she was

Twenty-Second Sunday-C
Once a man tried his best to find a job but nothing happened and then at last he got a job in a local zoo. All he had to do was just dressing like a monkey and entertain people. Though in the beginning, he could not do it well and then he began to entertain people well jumping up and down, rolling over and screaming and yelling. One day as he was jumping, he fell into the lion’s cage. He knew that he was going to die. He began to cry and cream saying, “ please, Lion let me go and I don’t want to die”. The lion came closer to him and said, ‘Do not scream and we both are going to lose our job”.
Once winston Churchill was asked, "How do you feel about seeing a big crowd coming to hear your speech? what is your reaction about so many people coming to hear your speech? How proud are you to see these things? Then Winston Churchill said, "When I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech, I was being hanged, the crowd could be twice as big".
Every time I go to a new parish, I open my homily with this story. It's about a missionary priest going to different villages and towns to preach the Good News. Once he had to cross a river to go to a village, so he hired a boat. While he was travelling, he began to talk to the boatman. He said, "I know you are catholic and what do you know about the Old Testament?" The boat man said, "O Father, I believe in God but I don't know much about the Old Testament". The priest said, "That means you lost 20 percent of you life.." what about the New testament? I believe in Christ but I don't know much about it. That means you lost 50 percent of your life my friend. The priest who was so proud of his knowdge about God looked at him and said, "What about the sacraments...? He said, "I was baptized and  I don't know much about them...he said that means you lost 70 percent of your life. Mean time, the boat was in the middle of the river and through a small hole from the bottom, water began to come in the boat, the boat man knows it was going to sink. So he asked the priest, "Father, do you know swimming, the priest said, "No". The man with humility looked at the priest and said, "That means you lost whole life".
After that somebody asked me, "Oh Father, do you know swimming? I said, "I live just five k away from Indian ocean and I learned to walk on water too..." what a pride person I am...
Humility does not mean that you are going to think less of yourself but thinking yourself less.
while people are taking the seats of honor, Christ askes them to take the lower place so that the one who invited them, will come and in the presence of others ask to take the higher position. This is called true humility. As we humble ourselves, we will be exalted.
While men searched for a throne to build their kingdoms, Jesus reached for a towel to wash His disciples' feet.  That is called humility.
There is a story of a donkey. It happened right after Palm Sunday. A baby donkey running home crying and the mother was so concerned and asked, "Why?". The baby donkey said, "Mom...yesterday as we walked into the streets of Jerusalem, people through their cloaks before us, they worshipped us and they sang hosanna to us. They were singing and dancing and the same people as I went today, chased me around and they tried to kill me. I don't understand these stupid people. The mother donkey looked at the baby and said, "Son...all those things happened yesterday not for us but for the man called Jesus. Remember as long as we are with Christ, we are something. If not, we are just donkeys.
Chist who is the only Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior and Lord humbled himself to be with us and to be one of us and died on the cross and thus God raised Him above all. The one who humbled himself is exalted above all.
Humility is accepting that some days you are the pigeon and some days the statue.
 A rich man once went to his Guru & said, "I want to develop humility." The guru suggested that he help someone who is lower than him.
He did that and came back to the guru and said, "I've helped a poor man today with wealth. Am I humble now?" The guru replied No and asked him to help another man lower than him. But after repeated visits to different people, he finally asked his guru, "When will I become humble?"
The wise old man replied, "You will have obtained humility when you can no longer find anyone that you think is lower than you in any way!"
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humble themselves like our Master and Messiah will be exalted.
"Be humble or you'll stumble.

twentieth Sunday-C

Good morning/evening everyone.
The weather is so hot and often the weather channel is giving us hope saying, "it is going to be raining". Being a weather man is the only job where you can lie and still make good money.
Once after Mass, a faithful lady approached her priest and said, "Father, I hope you didn't take dit personally when my husband walked out during your homily"
The Father said, "It was a little annoyoing and what is going on with him?"
The woman then looked at him and said, "O Father, Mike has been walking in sleep ever since he was a child"
After Mass once a little boy came to the priest and said, "Father, when I big, I am going to give you money to help you". The priest said, "Why do you want to give me money?" The boy said, "Because my dad says that you are the poorest preacher in town".
On May 1st, there happened a huge wildfire that lasted for a month and devestated so many people's lives, businesses, homes and so on. They said that it was the costliest wild fire in Canada. Yes, we know the wild fire that devestated Fort McMurry. Fire has power to create as well as destroy.
There are two types of fire namely given-fire such as sun, fire causes by nature and made-fire such as fire that we make.
Given-fire or made fires, they create lives or destroy them.
Once a man called the fire department and said, "By the way, I have a beautiful front yard landscaped. I have a nice flower bed, a beautiful fish pond with a fountain and a new rose garden". The fire fighter said, "That is right and what does that have to do with the fire service?" The man said, "The house next door is on fire and I don't want you to trample my front yard".
The book of Genesis says that God said, "Let there be light". And there was light. God saw that the light was good and God then separated the light from the darkness and called the light day and the darkness night.
In the New Testament Christ our Lord the giver of light says, " I am the light of the world and anyone follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have light of life.
When John the Baptist saw Christ our Lord coming toward Him, he said of Him, " Behold the lamb of God and I baptize you with water but the one who is coming after me will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit".
In today's gospel, Christ our Lord says, "I came to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were already kindled".
Christ our Lord came to give us all the fire of hope and love namely the Holy Spirit. He came to us so that we would receive life to the fullest and we would know the secret of happiness and joy.
Even after His Resurrection, Christ our Lord prepared His apostles, disciples, followers and others to receive that fire. On the day of Pentecost the fire came on everyone of them and rested on them. That fire of love gave them courage to go everywhere to preach, teach and do miracles in the name of Christ.
As we read especially the Acts of the Apostles, we come to know how the Holy Spirit inspired the apostles to go everywhere and preach the Good News of Salvation.
Once a young woman brought her fiance home to meet her parents. After dinner, her dad looked at the young man and said, "By the way, what is your qualification?" The man said, "I am a theology scholar". That sounds great and will that give my daughter a nice home? the man said, "I will study and God will provide". The dad said, "How will you look after your children?" The man said, "God will provide".
When the man left their place the mother asked her husband, 'So how did it go?" The father said, "It went well and I like him. He has no money or employment plans. But on the other hand, he thinks that I am God".
Today's gospel, the merciful, complassionate and kind Christ our Lord who died for humanity says, "I came not to bring peace to the earth but rather division". From now on five in one household will be divided, Father against son; son against Father; mother against daughter and daughter against daughter in law. There will be division.
Once in police academy... a man was asked, "if you have to arrest your own mother-in-law, what will you do?" The man's answer was highly appriciated and accepted. He said, "I will call for backup".
Christ our Lord talks about the division that would happen because of unconditional love and forgiveness. Yes, as we spread Christianity and its teaching, as we talk about unconditional love and unlimited forgiveness; those who are conditioned and limited and those who are not used to Christian way of non-violence and acceptance, will go away from us. Christ talks about that kind of division and this division will bring back all to one fold and therefore we should not be afraid of spreading love, kindness and forgiveness.
Conclusion: Preaching Christ's message of love and forgiveness means bringing fire to the earth; bringing fire to those who have pyrophobia namely intense fear of fire and make them have fire-walk and help them to over come that intense fear of life, living and death and help them to live in Christ forever.

19th Sunday-C ready for action

Be ready for action...
 What will happen to a student goes to exam without preparation, he will definately fail. One day a teacher said to John, " you copied from Matthew's  exam paper, didn't you?" John became so defensive and said, " How did you know?"  The teacher said, " Mathew's paper says, "I don't know". And you have put, " Me, neither".
If a military officer who goes on to the field of action without proper preparation, he will easily be defeated. Once an military officer said to his soldier: "Do you have a change for a dollar?". The soldier said, "Sure, buddy". The officer looked at him and said, "That is not the proper way to answer in military, Sure buddy, let us try again, "Soldier, do you have a change for a dollar?" The soldier said, "No, Sir".
Once a very faithful woman came to the pastor and said, "Reverend, I am so scared and afraid. Joe says he is going to kill me if I continue to come to your church". The pastor looked at her and said, " Yes, my child, I will continue to pray for you. Have faith and the Lord will watch over you". "Oh yes, He has kept me safe so far, only..."   "Only what, my child?" asked the pastor. She said, "Now he says if I keep coming to your church, he is going to kill You".  The pastor looked at her and said, "Perhaps it is time to check out that little church on the other side of town".  
A follower of Christ is asked to be ready to welcome the Master who is going to come at any time, may be tonight or million years from now. But we who follow Christ should be ready to welcome him.
1. Be dressed for action:  The New Testament says when time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalam to present Him to God. and there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested upon him. It has been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah and thus he was blessed to see the Lord Christ Jesus. That is called being dressed for action. Simeon was waiting eagerly to see the Lord and was well prepared to receive him.
They say that the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. Once a wise man said, "Before everything else,  getting ready is the secret to success". Once president Nixon told that while talking to Winston Churchill's son, how much he admired the priminister's great ability at giving great and extemporaneous speeches. Churchill's son replies saying, "Oh, yes, I have watched my father work for hours preparing those great speeches. We are called to prepare ourselves to welcome the Lord who is going to come at an unexpected time.
There are many ways to prepare ourselves to welcome the Lord who is going to come unexpectedly.
1. Let us prepare our mind and keep the lamp lit:
"The doing will never be right until the thinking is right". Our mind never sleeps. It is thinking twenty-four seven and it doesn't mean that we are thinking right thinking. It is time to prepare our mind and keep it alert. St. Paul says today that faith is assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. As we keep our mind alert by practicing our faith, then we can say that we are ready to welcome the Lord.
2. Let us prepare our body and keep the lamp lit: St. Paul says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit whom we received from God. We are not our own and we are brought by a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
3. Let us also prepare our heart and keep the lamp lit:  Jesus says, "For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will also be" We are not talking abourt physical heart but spiritual heart...the longing. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Yes, as Christ comes in an unexpected time, He will honor and glorify us in God. He will look at us and say, "you who have done everything well, enter into my father's house prepared for you".
Conclusion: "Mamma," said a little child, "my Sunday-school teacher tells me that this world is only a place in which God lets us live a while, that we may prepare for a better world. But, Mother, I do not see anybody preparing. I see you preparing to go into the country, and Aunt Eliza is preparing to come here; but I do not see anyone preparing to go there. Why don't they try to get ready?"
This life is but a preparation for another life. Are you preparing for that next life? That better place that God has prepared for us? It’s a prepared place for a prepared people. What do you need to do to get ready?


     

17th Sunday-C

17th Sunday in ordinary time-C
I was telling some people that we who believe in Christ should not think about becoming first in everything because second is the best for us.  The second Adam Christ is the best; The second birth called baptism is the best and the second coming of Christ is the best. Then one lady asked me, "And that is why my husband always understands better the second time". I said, "I am making a spiritual statement and don't want to involve in family fued".
Once a little boy climed in a tall tree and refused to come down. So the fire fighters, police and all other tried their best to make the boy get down but nothing helped. The parents finally thought of the their priest and asked him to do something. The priest came and looked at the boy in the tree and he made a sign of the cross and there the boy immediately came down. The fame of the priest spread everywhere. Then a man who became a fan of the priest asked, "O Father, you are a holy man and with a sign of Cross, you made the boy come down from the tree". The priest looked at him and said, " I didn't make the sign of the cross. All I did was I just looked at the boy and said, "If you don't come down and I will cut the tree down".
Once a teenege girl prayed to God saying, "God, make me thin and if you don't, make my friends fat"
Once a little boy said, "My mom alwasys does her prayers for me at night?' What kind of prayers does she do? The boy said, "She says, "Thank God, he is in bed".
In today's gospel, the apostles are asking Christ saying, "We heard all other rabbis teaching prayers and different methods of spiritual worship to approach God, please help us to pray. We see you often going to lonely and deserted places and mountain tops to pray and please teach us to pray. The apostles witnessed how Christ whole persona changed as he was praying to God. They witnessed the transfiguration of the Lord, His face shining like the sun and His closths dazzing white. They witnessed before and after miracles and wonders, Christ did His prayers. Then Jesus taught them the most powerful, meaningful and amazing prayer called the Lord's prayer.
Once a mother noticed her son praying to God and often saying, "Tokyo...Tokyo".  Then she asked why, the son said, "Mom, I have just now finished my exam and I ask God to make Tokyo the capital of France.
What is prayer? Suppose if you have a friend and knock at his door at mightnight and though in the beginning he refuses to give you what you want, because of your persistence, he will certainly give you anything. That is called prayer. The word 'Persistence' is also translated as boldness or shamlessness.
Prayer is  more like having  a conversation with your friend. God answers all our prayers. Sometimes He says, "Yes" to our prayers. Sometimes He says, "No" to our prayers and sometimes He says, "you got to be kidding".
God loves us so much and He answers all our prayers. Christ says when a son asks his dad for a fish, the dad is never going to give him a snake or for an egg, a scorpion. Imagine a man who is evil in nature knows how to give good things to his son and how much more your heavenly father will to those who ask Him the Holy Spirit. And God knows how to bless us all differently.
I remeber when I was in the seminary, we sent to help the students in the home for blind. One day as I was helping a blindstudent, the electricity went off and since it was mansoon, we knew the power  was not going to come back that soon and as I was struggling to get out of the place. The blind boy said, "I can take you out from here". I said, "it is so dark". He said, "I am used to darkness and I thank God for that..." I was so amazed to hear his positive approach over his blindness and in everything there is life and even a dead clock shows correct time twice a day. God is good and let's put our complete trust and thank Him for everything  not like that boy who thanked God saying,  "Thank God for my baby brother but I asked for a puppy...." Amen.