THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

Once a priest announced in the Church saying, “I have a hundred dollar preaching that will last only five minutes and a fifty dollar preaching that will last about forty minutes and a twenty-dollar preaching that will last about an hour, now let us take up the collection and see which one I am going to preach.

Once a fifty-dollar, a twenty-dollar and a luni were taking to each other. The fifty-dollar said, “My master is a great man. He takes me to movie place and big malls and I am so happy to go with him”. The twenty-dollar said, “My boss is also a good man, “He takes me to the city and big stores and I am so happy with him”. Then the luni said, “My master is a good man too… and I don’t understand him because he takes me only to church”.

1. From today’s gospel, we come to know three important things such as the blessing of the believer, the blessing of the unknown believer and what will happen to those who don’t share their spiritual gifts, knowledge and understanding.

2. The blessing of the believers:

The rich man in today’s gospel represents all the Pharisees, scribes and the chosen people. They were all given blessings upon blessings. Since God Himself chose them, everything was given to them. They enjoyed freedom and life; they enjoyed riches and happiness. Nothing was lacking in their life. They were blessed with everything. They experienced perfection and absolute happiness. They were given more of everything.

As we are chosen by God through His Son Jesus, we are also given special blessings to enjoy everything. Complete bliss and enlightenment is possible for us all in Jesus Christ our Lord. And Jesus Himself became the way, truth and the life for us. We all became children of God in Jesus.

3. The blessing of the unknown believer:

Lazarus in today’s gospel represents the gentiles or all unknown believers. Even though He didn’t know about the creator God or the God of Israel, he came to the rich man or the man who practices his faith, but he refused to share God’s blessings, love and kindness. But the man waited at the door longing to know about God but the believer gave nothing to him so God himself came down and blessed him abundantly. The unknown believer became so rich in faith and began to enjoy every spiritual gift but on the other hand the rich man lost everything and was disconnected from the love and kindness of God our father completely.

Conclusion:

Today’s gospel invites us to share our spiritual knowledge, wisdom and understanding; our spiritual blessings and gifts with those who are struggling to know the Father. It is our duty to give. As we give and share our spiritual gifts, they multiply as thirty, sixty and hundredfold. Yes, when we give our spiritual blessings, they will come back to us more and thus we will have more of everything. Amen.

THE LOST SHEEP

Once a man noticed another man having a banana in his ear. So he said, “hi… you have a banana in your ear”. The man didn’t hear. So he raised his voice and said, “Hi… you have a banana in your ear” Then the man turned and said, “please speak louder, I have a banana in my ear”.
Once in a famous restaurant in Toronto… Joke.
In today’s gospel , we meet with Jesus who is full of compassion and kind, we meet with Jesus who is full of love and merciful. Yes, we meet with Jesus who finds himself among the sinners , rejected, outcasts and unwanted.
1.Once two people were asked to recite the Psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want…” The first man who was a powerful orator got up and recited the whole Psalm, and then everyone stood up and clapped their hands and cheered for him. Then the other man got up and repeated the same words saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd and there is nothing I shall want”. And this time, no one cheered and they were all sitting quietly in a devotional and prayerful mood. Then the orator got up and said, “I have a confession to make, “you should know the difference between this old man and I, “I only know the Psalm and this man knows the Shepherd”.
When we get closer to Jesus our Shepherd, then we will come to know how much He loves us , though we are weak and sinful. He came to save and give life to those who went away from the love and kindness of God our father.
2. One day a sheep saw a hole in the fence and he escaped through the hole. He wandered far and forgot his way back. Then he realized that he was being chased by a wolf. He ran and ran but the wolf was kept following him until the shepherd came and rescued him. Then he carried the sheep to the fold. After that his friends, family members and others came to him and asked to nail up the fence but he never did.
This is our Shepherd… Good shepherd who give us freedom and free will to choose between good and bad and between right and wrong. When we go away from Him and fall into sin, He recognizes our weaknesses saying, “I came for the one sheep that was lost”.
For our Lord Jesus Christ, the lost sheep is also a good sheep. He never dislikes the sinner but only the sin. Let us use our wisdom and knowledge; our freedom and free will to get closer to God our Father through our Good Shepherd Jesus Christ, Amen.

Narrow door

ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW DOOR

In today's gospel, People asked Jesus about salvation. Those people were
curious about what they had to do to be saved and Jesus told them to
make an effort to enter through the narrow door. Jesus said to them that there would be challenges, difficulties and pain but one should try his best to enter through the narrow door that leads to his home, eternal home.
1. Once a Sunday school teacher asked the children, "what if I sell my
house and all my property and give the money to the Church, will I go to
heaven?" "NO" the children answered."what if I clean the church every day and keep it neat and tidy, will I go to
heaven"? Again the children said, "NO""what if I go to church every day and practice my faith, will I go to
heaven?" they all said, "NO".The teacher looked at them and asked, "what should I do to go to heaven?"One boy shouted out, "You got to be dead".
Heaven is our eternal home from where we are sent here. And that is why there is a constant spiritual longing is in everyone of us. we always want to connect with the higher power and know more about God the Father. But at the same time, impermanent and created things may lure or take us away from spiritual and holy longings. Because of our imperfect nature, we are prone to fall into sin and God who knows our nature and longing shows us the way through His only son Jesus who is our way, life and truth.
What kind of effort should we make to enter into the narrow door?
1. As we come to know the truth that we belong to heaven and God is our father then we will not hesitate to enter through the narrow door of challenges. we will give more of our time, energy and resources to reconnect ourselves with God. Jesus asks us to go to him with our pain, suffering and challenges because He is ready to give make us whole again.
2. The easy way to connect with God is by connecting with others especially with our family members and friends. we don't hesitate to forgive others and strangers but we struggle to forgive and accept our own family members. once a man introduced me his dad and I said to him, "your dad used to bring you to Church and now it is your turn to bring him to church". Whatever the parents do to their children, they will get it back hundred times. if they forgive and accept their children and guide them with their examples, one day the parents will receive more of everything from their children.
3. Enter through the narrow door is not an easy one and that is why God sacrificed His Son Jesus. Jesus by his very birth among the outcasts and the sinners, by his challenging against the pharisees and the scribes and by his suffering and death on the Cross showed us the way to enter into the narrow door. once we enter into the narrow door, we too like our master and Lord will rise to new and eternal bliss. Amen.

Good Samaritan

Good Samaritan

Love and compassion are the basis of Christianity. God out of love,
created the world and Jesus out of love died for humanity and The Holy
Spirit out of love, continues to heal and give us life. we are today asked to
show love and compassion to all human beings. if we want others to be
happy, we should practice compassion and if we want to be happy, we
should practice compassion.

1.Today's gospel talks about a man who was in need of help. A priest who passed
by ignored the dying man.
Once a dad wants to know what his son will do when he get older. So he
placed a bible, a bottle of wine and a hundred dollar bill on a table, saying
to himself, "if he picks up the wine, he will be a wine maker. if he takes
the money, then he will be a business man and if he picks up the bible, a
rabbi". Then the son came in, he drank the wine and put the money in his
pocket and took the bible in one hand and walked away. The dad was so
surprised and said to every one, "My son is going to be a priest".
The priest didn't help the man who was dying because helping a man who
was bleeding was considered as unholy. The priest wanted to be ritually clean and pure. Our Lord says people are not for sabbath. we should not be
controlled by rituals and religious customs. They instead should free us
and help us to know God and others. Anything we do to the least of our
brother or sister we do unto the Lord.

2. Then comes a Levite and he also passed by and ignored the dying man.

One day a man came to a priest and asked, "Father, do you know what
causes lever problem?" The priest who didn't have time looked at the man who
was half drunk and was smoking and said, "you know what causes lever
problem? smoking causes lever problem. yes that is what causes lever
problem. Alcohol causes lever problem. Yes, that is what causes lever
problem. living a loose life causes lever problem.Yes that is what causes
lever problem. Then the priest calmed down and looked at the man and
asked, "why do you ask?" The man said, Yesterday I heard on TV that the
Pope has lever problem.

Levites were next to priests. So he considered helping the dying man was
not only unclean but also waste of time. He didn't want to spend time.
Today the biggest excuse we hear often is, "I don't have time". It is true
because time belongs to God. He sent us here according to His time and He will
call us back according to His time. we cannot control time but every minute we
spend for the well being of others, we spend with god. Those who spend time with God, will save more time.

Then a Samaritan came by the same road and saw the dying man. He had compassion for him and he right away extended his heart.

once a man looking the world and its suffering and misery, prayed to God saying, "God, people are hating each other. There is no peace or love in the world. war and killing are going on everywhere. we need more compassion and kindness. please send someone to change everything". That night, God said to him, "son... I have already sent someone to change everything". the man asked god, "where is that person?". God looked at him and said, "you are that person. you go and do something for the suffering and the dying, then the world will change".

Compassion is feeling the feeling of others. when we have compassion for our brothers and sisters in need, we become Samaritans, yes good Samaritans who see god in every person who is in need. we need to practice compassion because compassion is the basis of all morality. Compassion helps us to see those who suffer and in need as our brothers and sisters. It helps us to see them as our neighbour. Amen.

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY

How to enter into the Kingdom of God.

Today's gospel shows a way to enter into the kingdom of God. What will
profit a person if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. What do we
need to enter into the kingdom of God.
1.The kingdom of God is not about Money and wealth...
Once a pastor made an announcement saying, "I have a good news and a bad
news. The good news is that we have enough money to build a new church
and the bad news is the money is in your pocket".And the pastor then announced in the Church saying, "I have a hundred
dollar preaching that will last only five minutes, a fifty dollar preaching
that will last forty-five minutes and a ten dollar preaching that will last an
hour, now let us take up the collection and see which one I will preach".The Lord appointed seventy people to preach the good news. These people
represent the seventy nations of the world. Yes, The Lord asked them to go
everywhere to preach the good news. And they were asked to take nothing
with them, no money, no bag or purse. All they took with them was the
love and kindness of God; they took with them his blessings. What they
received freely from the Lord, they gave it to all without any reservation.
And everyone who came in contact with them began to experience the
unconditional love and kindness of God and everyone who came in
contact with them began to experience life an abundance of life.
2.The kingdom of God is not about power and authority...
Once an old man named Bill visited his best friend who was dying and said
to him, "we have been friends for long long time. we were powerful
people in town and we both loved baseball and now you are dying; when
you go to heaven, would you please find a way to communicate with me if
there is baseball in heaven". His friend agreed and then he died. Few days
later, while he was sleeping, he hears his friend's voice. The voice says,
"I've got a good news and a bad news. The good news is there is baseball
in heaven". "what is the bad news?" The bad news is you are pitching on
Friday". Then Bill ended up in a hospital dying, and the family called his priest.
while the priest was standing beside his bed, Bill was slowly fading away
but he still motioned for something to write on. The priest lovingly handed
him a pencil and a piece of paper and Bill used all his strength to write a
note. Then he died. The priest thought of not looking at it right away and
while he was doing the funeral for him, he opens the piece of paper and
announced to all" I know Bill. He was a wonderful man and He wrote something on a
piece of paper before he died. Now I will read it to all.. then with loud
voice he read, "Father... you are standing on my oxygen tube".
Today's gospel says that the disciples were sent like lambs among wolves.
They were not given power and authority. They were sent as they were as
ordinary and everyday people but at the same time, because of Christ's
presence among them, they performed miracles and wonders. They healed
the sick and cast out demons. They were sent two by two. The Bible says
where two or more gather in his name, there he is. Christ was with them
until the end of time.
If the kingdom of God is not about money and wealth; not about authority
and power, then what is the kingdom of God is about...?
3. The kingdom of God is all about peace.
In today's gospel, Jesus asks his disciples to share His peace with others. Where there is peace, there will be love and forgiveness. Where there is peace, violence and hatred will disappear. Peace brings non-violent approach toward all living things. And nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate a man. Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong. And Jesus asked his disciples to hold on to His divine peace that will liberate all from economical and political slavery and will give them freedom to live today and hope for the future.
Once a lady saw three old men knocking at her door and she opened the
door and asked who they were. They said, "we are money, power and
peace" And she invited them into her house but they refused saying only
one of us could come in. So she discussed with her husband and decided
to welcome peace into her home. She went out and said, "we decided to
welcome peace into our home". And when peace began to come in, money
and power also began to come in. she asked why. then peace said, where
there is peace, there will also be money and power as servants. when there is no peace, money or power will take over and there will be a big destruction.Let us bring peace into our homes. The Bibles says, "Blessed are the peace makes, they are called children of God". Let us continue to be children of God, Amen.

LET US FOLLOW THE LORD

LET US FOLLOW THE LORD OUR GOD

Today's gospel invites us to follow the Lord who is our faith, hope and love.An elderly lady who was so pious and god-fearing, used to stand on her porch and shout, "Praise the Lord... thank you God".Her next door neighbour who didn't believe in God used to shout back saying, "God back inside, there is no God". It went on and on.And one day, the lady stood on her porch and shouted saying, "God, I am hungry and I don't have food. Please send me some groceries". The next day when she opened the door, she saw a big bag of groceries at the door. She thanked God with a loud voice saying, "Thank you God for sending me groceries. I love you Lord". The man then shouted back saying, "there is no god. I got the groceries for you". She again shouted saying, "thank you god. you not only sent the groceries but also made the devil pay for them".Then one day the man died and went to heaven because he bought the groceries for the old lady. But he was curious to know about hell. So he got permission and went there. For his surprise, it was wonderful. he was treated well, fed well and was entertained well. So the next weekend also he went there and had a lot of fun. And when he went the third time, he was put in a corner and he experienced hell. He screamed and in his torment said to the devil,"what is going on here. I am suffering" The devil said to him, "Before you were a visitor but now you are a resident".
Last Wednesday afternoon while I was minding my own business, I experienced a big shake. The whole house was shaking. Then I learned it was a slight earthquake. we all think that we are safe and secure and there are certain things beyond our control and we need God to help us. Without God we are nothing.And in today's gospel, Jesus asks three people to follow Him but they all had different excuses.

1. To the first person, Jesus demanded faith. He said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go" when Jesus said that he should have faith in the Lord but not looking for security. He went away.

2. To the second person, Jesus demanded hope. He said to Jesus, "first let me go and bury my father" meaning let me spend time with my parents until they die, then I will come and follow you. Jesus said to him, "let them look after themselves. you come and follow me". He then went away from the Lord.

3. To the third person, Jesus demanded love. He said to Jesus, "I will say goodbye to my family" that means let me hold on to material things and people for a while and then I will come and follow you. When Jesus asked him to detach from them, he was sad and went away.
Today's gospel invites us to recommit ourselves to the love and kindness of God in Jesus Christ. when we love the Lord, we will always find a way to connect ourselves with Him.
Conclusion: Once an old man who wanted to spade his potato garden sent a letter to his only son who was in prison saying, "Dear Son, I miss you. when you were at home, you used to dig the garden. But in my old age, I couldn't do anything. when are you coming back?"Few days later, the dad got a letter from the son saying, "God, please don't dig up the garden. That is where I buried the bodies".The next day F.b.i agents and police came and dug up the whole place without finding any bodies. Then they apologized the old man and left.And the old man again got a letter from the son saying, "Dad, now you may plant the potatoes. That is all I could do under the circumstances".
Love always finds a way. Yes, when we have love, we will find a way too. Amen.

GRADUATION

GRADUATION MASS
Now I am going to tell you a story about a boy who was very ordinary and simple but He was holding on to something very important. Because of the very thing, He attracted so many people. Even masters and gurus came to listen to him. When they asked for what he was holding on to, he gave them all freely. some of them could touch it and others could only smell it and some others could only feel it and every one according to his or her way of approach. But they all experienced it.And a month ago, by name Abby Sunderland who is only sixteen year old who tried to sail solo around the world, because of high wind, could not finish it but she said she would definitely sail solo around the world soon, has it. she talked about it to all. And Jordan Romero a thirteen year old boy who claimed mount Everest last march has it. when he was asked about it, he talked saying I could touch and smell it.Do you know what it is? you have it and your parents and everyone of us has it. But we can experience it only according to our commitment.Before I would say what it is... I want to let you know the name of the boy who had it. His name was Jesus Christ who was at the age of twelve at Jerusalem temple gave that to people. And the thing is not a thing at all. it is more than a thing, and it is Faith. you were all given through the sacrament of baptism. people who are committed to the love of God can taste it, experience it and even see it.During these eight years at Mother Theresa's school, you have been given faith again and again in many ways. every time you went to school, every time you spent time with your friends and every time you came to church to celebrate Christ, you received faith and now you are going away from the school not leaving your faith behind but taking your faith with you.when you keep your faith alive, you will grow and multiply as thirty, sixty and hundredfold. keep your faith alive and you will be stronger in everything and today's gospel invites you to deepen your faith in Christ our Lord. So let us keep your faith and multiply. Amen.