Eight Sunday-A

Eight Sunday-A 

Last week I visited a family and as the wife said that her husband is going to be forty-five soon, I said, "Did he have his mid-life crisis yet?' And she said, "My husband has mid-life crisis every day". 

One day as a mother and her son were coming home from Sunday Mass, the mom looked at a beautiful double rainbow in the sky and said, "Son, God painted this just for you. Look how beautiful it is". The boy looked at his mom and said, "Thanks mom and God did it left handed". The mom was kind of confused and said, "why do you say God painted it with left hand?" The son said, "Because at Sunday school they said that Jesus sits on God's right hand". 

Does anyone has any change?...wow...he is rich and I haven't seen a hundred dollar bill for long time.  

Money is not evil.  It's a blessing. We see in the Old Testament how God blessed all His servants, believers and followers with wealth. The book of Job begins like this. Once there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants. He was highly blessed by God. Those who fear God will be greatly blessed by wealth. 

Being rich and having money is a blessing. Once a man said, "I have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, if I die next Tuesday". Someone said, "The only exercise I have done this month is running out of money". So many things are said about money. 

Last week a friend of mine said, "The best way to make money at the casino is just staying home".  Money in itself is not an evil thing but the people who love money are evil. 

 Money is not our Master but servant. And that is why at the temptation of Christ we see when the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor and said to Christ, "I will give you all these, if you will fall down and worship me". 

What did Jesus say? He said, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him".  That is why Christ our Lord said to the man who said to himself after a big produce, "I am going to pull down my small storage and build a bigger one and where I will store all my produce and now I have ample goods, a lot of things to enjoy. So my soul, be happy and enjoy life and Christ said, "You fool. This very night your life is demanded of you and then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" What is the point of gaining the whole world and forfeiting our soul? 

And that is why in today's Gospel passage, Christ who showed us the way to the Father says, "No one can serve two masters. We can not serve both God and wealth". 

We are called to serve God and make money serve us.  

There is a story about a woman who was struggling with a decision as to whether or not to have cosmetic surgery. She was thinking about having a facelift. But it was very expensive. Hence, she was totally confused. She said to her husband, "The surgery is so expensive and what if I drop dead three months after I have this surgery? Then what would you do? The husband thought for a moment and said, "Well, I guess we would have an open casket for your funeral". 

Created things will never satisfy a person. The longing in Him will never go away. The black hole in his heart will remain forever unless a person serves the Master, the Creator. 

As we serve God using our money and other means, we will know how to deal with our worries, anxieties and pain and suffering. Every living or non-living thing will help us to stay stronger.  

Jesus asks us to look at the lilies of the field who neither toil or spin and yet heavenly father keep them beautiful.  

When we serve God using our money and other means, we will know how to deal with our worries, anxieties, pain and suffering. Every living and non-living thing will help us stay stronger. 

Jesus asks us to look at the birds. They neither sow nor reap and yet 

 the heavenly Father feeds them. So He who loves us all with His unconditional love will look after us. All we have to do is surrender ourselves to Him and serve Him.  

So let us not worry about tomorrow but live today serving Him who loves us. Amen.

7th sunday-A

Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time- A 

Good evening/morning everyone, once there was a man who was always bragging about his love for children. One day, he was pouring a new driveway of cement and some of the children in the neighborhood ran right through his freshly poured driveway. Some even wrote their names in the cement. When the man saw it, he got so mad and was screaming. Then one of his neighbor came over and said, "I thought you said you loved children". The man said, "Well, I do love them in the abstract, but I don't love them in the concrete". 

Today our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to be holy as God the Father is Holy. He teaches us four methods or ways to be holy like the Father. 

1. The first method is to abstain from all forms of retaliation:  In those days, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth method was applied. Some people love to take revenge and punish others for their wrong doings.  Gandhi once said, "If we apply an eye for an eye, soon the whole world will be blind" One day truck driver stooped at a restaurant for dinner and ordered a steak. Before he could eat it,  in walked a motorcycle gang. They took the man's steak and cut it in pieces and ate it. The truck driver said nothing. He simply paid the bill and walked out. One of the gang members said, "The man couldn't talk"  Another said, "He couldn't fight either". Then the waiter added saying, "I would say he couldn't driver either". On the way out of the parking lot, he ran over six motorcycle crushing all of them. Sometimes we love this kind of story of retaliation. But Christ calls us to forgive those who sins against us. 

2.  The second method of becoming holy as God is holy is to take the offense gracefully and love the offender: Christ our Lord says if anyone strikes us on one cheek, let us turn the other cheek too to him. If anyone wants to take our coat, let us give our cloak as well and if anyone forces us to walk a mile, let us walk an extra mile with that person and thus let him know that we are not offended in any way.  Once a 24 year old boy seeing out from the train's window shouted... "Dad, look the trees are going behind!". Dad smiled and a couple sitting nearby looked at the 24 year old's childish behavior with pity and the boy again said, "Dad, look the clouds are running with us". The couple could not resist and said to the old man...  

"Why don't you take your son to a good doctor?" The old man smiled and said,  "I did and we are just coming from the hospital. My son was blind from birth and he just got his eyes today".  Let us not judge or offend others, the truth might surprise you. 

3. The third method to be holy like the Father is by unconditionally and whole-heartedly forgiving the offender without planning revenge in any form: There is an old story about a woman going to her parish priest saying, "I had a vision and Jesus talked to me..." She kept coming to him every day and saying the same thing and one day to make sure that she was really having a vision, the priest said, "The next time when Christ appears to you. Ask him about my personal sins". She did come to him the next day and do you know what she said? She said, "Jesus Christ said that He forgot all your sins". That is called real forgiveness. Forgiveness is not only forgiving the offender but also forget what the person did. 

4. The fourth method to be holy like the Father is to dedicate ourselves to pray for our offenders' spiritual and physical welfare. 

Our body is the temple of the holy Spirit and as we want to experience the presence of God, it is our duty to forgive and accept others. The world will come to know that we belong to God only by the way we love and accept others. So let us love each other and bring His message of love and forgiveness to all. God bless. Amen.

six sunday-A

Six Sunday in Ordinary Time-A 

After visiting my mom in India, one thing I know that it is not easy to understand my mother. She said, "come for a month and stay with me for a month and I do not understand why within two weeks, all she was asking me  was, when I was going back to Canada". 

Once a faithful woman was taking out money from her purse for offering, a Television remote fell out into the aisle and the curious usher who bent over to retrieve it for her said, "Do you always carry your TV remote to Church?" She said, "My husband refused to come to church with me this morning and I don't know what to do...so I figured this was the most evil thing that I could do to him legally". 

Once a spiritual leader said,  

"If you want to be happy, be compassionate. If you want others to be happy, be compassionate".  

Christ the compassionate and kind one was sent by God not to judge us but to give us life. As people heard Him preaching the Good News and as they witnessed His miracles, all they said was,  "Where did this man get all these? Where did He get all these wisdom and understanding? Christ our Lord came to fulfill the law and prophets. And the law and the prophets were fulfilled in Him. Yes, all the laws and the prophets lead us to Him only. 

Those who put their faith in Christ  are fulfilling the Law and those who love the Lord are fulfilling the prophets.  He brought to us the law of love saying, "Love God and your neighbor". Yes on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Christ by giving His life on the cross fulfilled the law and the prophets. And that is why, When we think about the law or the prophets, we think about Christ the Lord. 

Once  a prophet came to a town preaching the good news and in the beginning, the whole town came to listen to him and after a while, they slowly went away from him. And at last, he was standing by himself and he was still preaching and one day a man looked a the prophet and said, "Now there is nobody and why are you still preaching?" The prophet said, I preached before so that people could change and now I preach so that they won't change me". 

The law and the prophets were given to the people but the Pharisees and the scribes manipulated them according to their own interests. And that is why Christ who came to fulfill the law and the prophets say that our righteousness and doings should exceed that of those Pharisees and the scribes to enter into the kingdom of God. 

When I was in India last month, I asked one of my Hindu friends about  his thought about Christ who became human so that humans can become divine  and he said, "we have more than million gods in Hinduism and not even one god became human to make us divine and they always remained divine". This amazing thing happened only in Christianity. 

And that Jesus who wants us  all to be with Him in heaven, 

 says, "As you are preparing to offer your gifts at the Altar and know that your brother or sister has something against you. Do not offer your gift to God instead leave them there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come and do your offering.  

And thus we fulfill the law and the prophets. Reconciliation with our brothers and sisters and reconciliation with ourselves purify our hearts. Christ says that blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 

For all the evil intentions come from the heart and as we keep our heart clean and pure, we begin to realize the presence of God in and around us.  

Christ our Lord brought us all here for a reason. Yes, we are called to become His channels of love and forgiveness. Today the world needs more love, our community needs for forgiveness and our family and friends need more kindness and compassion, let us be instruments of divine love and bring them back to Christ our Lord. Yes. If you want to be happy, practice compassion and if you want others to be happy, practice compassion. Amen.

Salt and Light

You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world 

Good morning/evening everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for today's Holy Mass. Our special to all our parishioners, visitors and everyone here today. Friends in Christ Jesus, let us thank God almighty for bringing us all here to this beautiful Church of St. Paul the Apostle/St. Jean de Brebeuf. Let us thank Him for sending His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ 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, calling to mind, our sins, sufferings, failures, pain and weakness and asking divine assistance and Christ our Lord's forgiveness, mercy and compassion. 

Good morning every one. I still remember my mom asking me to have a month holiday and I did but within two weeks of my holiday, all she asked was, "When are you going back to Canada?" Understanding mothers are not an easy thing. If I phone her, she would say, "why are you calling me all the time" and if I don't phone her, she would say, "You are too busy now.  

An unexpected thing happened when I was at St. Paul's Church in Norwood. One day about two o'clock in the morning , there was a bang at the door. I ignored the sound initially but the sound began to grow stronger and stronger. So I collected all my courage and turned all the lights on and thus went downstairs and opened the front door. There about twenty people standing outside saying," we are here for world youth day 2002".  

The theme for world youth day 2002 was, "You are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world". The Catholic TV network in Canada, 'Salt and Light' was named after the world youth day theme. 

As my family lives only five kilometers from the Indian ocean in India, I used to meditate on the vastness of the Ocean and how amazing things happening in the sea every day. There are so many living creatures and plants live in the salty water and the salty water creates harmony among living beings.  

Salt brings life and salt gives protection to living creatures and plants in the water. When saltiness is being disturbed with such as oil spill and other things,  then we see some great catastrophes happening. We know how salt gives tastes to food, it preserves things and adds flavor to things.  

Christ our Lord asks us today to be the salt of the earth. we are asked to add happiness and joy. We are asked to add a little more spiritual meaning in others lives and to help them to know that they are not alone but Christ our Lord who lived, died and came back to life for us all is still with them and continues His miracles and wonders even today.  

The story of EWTN is the story of a brave woman who had the courage of her conviction that she should be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Yes Mother Angelica who died in 2016 started broadcasting catholic TV for just a few hours a day in 1981 from the garage of her poor Clare monastery in the States. The project grew bigger and now after thirty-five years, the Eternal world Television Network is available twenty-four hours a day all over the world by cable and satellite. We are called to be like mother Angelica salt of the earth and light of the world. 

Jesus the light of the world asks us to be like Him. He asks us to reflect His light in the world. Anyone who follows Christ will begin to shine before others. We can not hide that powerful Christ light that is within us.  

The gospel of St. John begins saying in the beginning was the word. The word was with God and the word was God and everything came into being only through Him and what has come into being was life and the life was the light of the world. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not over come the light. 

Christ is the light and the light can not be hidden. Let us be bearers of Christ light and shine before others. Yes, instead of cursing the darkness, let us be light and shine before all. Amen.