30th Sunday- B

30th Sunday-B 

Good morning/evening everyone, we are happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. 

Last week, I visited an older lady in a nursing home in Peterborough. We were all singing ‘Happy birthday’ to her and I said, “Wow...It’s awesome, you are 95 now”. And she was not happy with me at all. She got mad and I didn’t do anything at all and then she looked at me and said, “You know what I am only 94 and don’t make me old”. 

Once there was a little boy called ‘ODD”, and as he went to school, everyone made fun of him calling and saying, add. But he used to stick out his chest and walked boldly. Then he got a good job and family and as he got older, he said to his family, “You know what I don’t like my name and as I die, just put an empty tomb-stone and nothing on it” Then he died and the family erected a big empty tomb stone for him and as hundreds of people went around the cemetery, they all looked at the empty tombstone and said, “That is odd”. 

Friends in Christ Jesus,  

There was a man by name ‘John Newton’ in England and he was very much involved in selling people as slaves to different countries. He made lots of money and life went very well for him and then one day, as he was travelling with so many people with the intention of selling them as slaves, what happened was, there came a huge typhoon that hit the ship and he knew that he was going to die and that time, John Newton who never practiced his faith and he did go to church that often knelt down and prayed to God saying, “God, please spare my life and I promise that I would never involve in human trade and I will dedicate my whole life to Christ our Lord and thus try my best to improve humanity” Then he was miraculously saved and he eventually became a minister and dedicated his life to Christ and he was the one who wrote that beautiful hymn, “Amazing grace how great thou art, I was once lost and now I am found. I was blind and now I can see”. 

What makes us blind today? 

It’s because often our eyes are being closed from recognizing Christ. He is everywhere doing miracles and wonders. He is with us today and we don’t need to run to a desert or to mountain tops or to anywhere. He is with us always. Yes, He is passing by us every day.  

What happened to the disciples on the way to Emmaus? Even though Christ Himself came and joined them, since their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. It’s because they were filled with sadness and they were filled with everyday worldly things and they didn’t have faith in the Resurrection of Christ. What happened to Thomas when all the apostles said, “We have seen the Lord and He is indeed risen”. Since doubt and questions filled his heart, he didn’t believe in Christ.  

But in today’s gospel, we meet with Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, a socially rejected man. People kept away from him saying, “Because his sins, God punished him and made him blind and because of his sins, his own family didn’t want to associate with him and thus he became a beggar. He was an outcast and reject.  

Though he was physically blind, he was spiritually alive and was longing to see again. When he heard that Christ the Lord was passing by, he began to shout saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”. 

As he cried aloud, everybody tried to stop him saying, you are a sinner, you are blind, and you are a beggar and stop calling him. Do not bother Him and do not come near Him and so on. Then what happened, he began to shout even more, saying, “Jesus, Son of David....have mercy on me”.  

The Lord hears the cry of the poor. He will never abandon anyone. As you come to Him with faith, you will receive blessing upon blessing and healing upon healing. Nothing is impossible with our loving Savior. He is our God and He loves us with His unconditional love. 

Then Christ Himself stopped and looked at him intently and said, “Son, what can I do for you?” 

Jesus, let me see again. I want to see the light and Christ said, “Go, your faith has made you well”.  

The bible uses the word ‘Immediately”. Yes, without any condition or demand, the man gained his sight and began to see and glorify God in Christ. 

The very word ‘Jesus’ has so much power and as we pronounce His name, all our challenges, pain, failure and suffering will disappear. So, let us call Him, “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me” Amen 

MISSION SUNDAY

MISSION SUNDAY 

Good evening/morning everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. Our special welcome to all our parishioners, visitors and everyone here today. 

Once there was a little boy called ODD. Everyone made fun of him at school, calling him odd but the boy wasn’t worried about it at all. Then he moved on with his life getting a good job and making good money and so on. But his name always bothered him, so he said to his family, “when I die, do not write my name on the tombstone, just leave it empty”.  And when he died, the family put a big tombstone without any name and hundreds and hundreds of people came to the cemetery every day and everyone who looked at the empty tombstone said, “That is odd”. 

Once a missionary went to a distant country to preach the Good News of Christ our Lord and as he was walking with his guide to the village, he asked about the people, their culture and language and so on and then he looked at the guide and said, “What about cannibals? I heard you still have cannibals in the village”. The guide began to laugh and laugh and said, “You know, Father, we don’t have any cannibal at all because we ate the last one yesterday”. 

Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates Mission Sunday. This Sunday, we are called to pray for all the missionaries around the world, we are called to support them, and we are called to become missionaries at home and around the world. 

Catholic Church by her very nature is Missional church. She has to keep on moving preaching the Good News of Christ our Lord to all and that is why Christ our Lord before going to heaven gave a new mandate to His apostles saying, “Therefore go everywhere preach the Good news and baptized them all in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit”. 

Christ our Lord with His disciples went everywhere preaching and healing and then asked His disciples to do the same. It’s because the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few and therefore we have to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into His vineyard.  

In those days, missionaries and lay people went to Africa and other Asian countries to preach the Good News and now the time is completely changed. Missionaries from other countries are coming here to preach the Good News. And you are called not to go to different countries to be missionaries but asked to be missionary at home. 

Once when we talked about God, everyone knew about the God who created heaven and earth, the God who created us in His own image and likeness. But today, when we talk about God, people began to think about divine energy, nature, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist gods. Things are changing so fast. 

Once when we talked about the Good News, everyone knew about Christ Jesus and how he by dying on the cross destroyed death and by rising restored life, but now Good news is so different and so many people are not aware of the preaching, healing and miracles of Christ our Lord. 

Once when we talked about Church, they knew about Catholic and protestant churches and they knew the difference too. But today church is becoming more and more being used loosely.  

It’s not because there are strangers living among us; it’s not because there are non-believers living among us, it’s because our own family members and friends are refusing to practice their faith. They have faith, but they don’t have time and they have faith, but they don’t have hope. 

Today you are called to become missionaries not in a foreign land but at your own home. You are called to inspire them with your words and actions. There is a deep longing in every one of us to know and experience love and kindness. There is a longing to find peace, a permanent peace and that love, and kindness and that permanent peace can be found in Christ and Christ alone.  

The people who are outside of the church, I mean, your grandparents, your parents and your children need missionaries, yes, they need you. Once they come to know that you are there for them to serv and not to be served, they will know not you but the one whom you love the most, Christ our Lord. 

So, friends in Christ Jesus, as we pray and support Missionaries around the world, let us become missionaries at home and help your own family members to kow Christ who is love. Amen. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING SUNDAY 

Good evening/morning everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass 

The first reading says that God created Adam from the dust of the ground and that is why we call Adam the first dirtbag. 

Once an older man from Toronto called his son in Calgary and said, “Son, I am so sorry to ruin your day, but I have to tell you the truth. Your mom and I are getting divorce and my forty-five years of our life is over. The son wasn’t happy and said, “Dad, what are you talking about, don’t do anything stupid until I get back to you. Then the son called his sister in Halifax and the she called her dad and said, “Please dad, don’t do anything until we come home. We will talk to you both. Please don’t move out. Then the old man hangs up the phone and looks at his wife and says, “Honey, our children are coming home for thanksgiving and now what we tell them for Christmas?” 

Once an older woman was driving a little fast and when she saw a female police officer following her, she was speeding and as she was pulled over, the officer looked at her and said, “You know what, I am in a good mood and I won’t give you a ticket if you give me a good reason, a reason that never heard. So, the older woman looks at the female officer and says, “you know what many years ago, my husband ran away with a police officer and I thought you are bringing him back”.  

As we are going to celebrate ‘Thanksgiving’, let us thank God Almighty for everything. Let us thank Him for our family members, relatives, friends, parishioners and others. As we thank Him for everything in our lives, we will always be given more joy, happiness and satisfaction.  

We hear from today’s Scriptures that God created Adam the first man from the dust of the ground. God made all animals and every living creature from the dust of the ground and the only difference between man and all other animals is that God, out of His graciousness and love, out of his compassion and kindness, breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. Yes, God gave man the spirit and soul that left Him that deep longing to find the Creator. So, it’s our duty to thank God for creating man and woman and giving us the breath of life and to thank Him for leaving that deep longing in us to search Him day and night.  

The beautiful thing is that God created man on the sixth day and on the seventh day, God rested. For God, it was seventh day but for man, it was a first day. And that is why, on the very first day, before doing anything and before going anywhere, we are called to begin the day with God. Sunday the first day of the week is called holy day.  

After creating Adam and Eve, God gave the first commandment saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” and for this reason, man leaves his father and mother and be join to his wife. Thus, the two shall become one flesh. They are no longer two but one flesh. Therefor what God has joined together, let no one separate. Yes, no law should separate them like civil laws, church laws, in laws and out laws and no law should separate them.  

As a man and woman come before the Lord and say to each other that they will be for each other in good times and bad and sickness and health, they promise to live for each other. Today the sad thing is, as we see many men and women together, we question saying, “are they living together or dying together. God created people to live and prosper.  

Today we face with so many challenges and especially when it comes with marriage, relationship and communication. People struggle a lot to connect with their own husbands and wives and that is why we say, even before finding your ‘soulmate’, find your soul.  

It’s not only putting Christ at the center of married life but keeping Him forever.  

Christ the only Son of God will never say ‘No’ to us. As we go to Him with who we are, He fulfills all our needs. So, as we are going to celebrate ‘Thanksgiving’, let us develop the attitude of gratitude and thank God for creating us in His own image and likeness and let us thank Him for our family and friends and let us thank Him for this beautiful country of Canada. God bless.