Fourth Sunday

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Good morning every one. After hearing today’s gospel, we may ask these questions. Is the gospel about Joseph?
The Bible says only one word about Joseph. It says Joseph was a Just man. Just man means one who is honest and god-fearing. Joseph did everything according to God’s will. He went to synagogue to pray and kept the Ten Commandments. He put God first in everything He said or did.
His faith extended in helping others and be with his own community. And that is why when He found out that Mary was pregnant, he was afraid that the community would judge her and so he wanted to dismiss her quietly if not she would be stoned to death.
Because of his faith in God and service to community, he was blessed to communicate with divine creatures such as angles. When he was confused about Mary, The Angel appeared to him and directed him.
Joseph was chosen in a special way to be the foster father of Jesus.

And we may ask is today’s gospel about Mary?
1. Though Mary was chosen by God in a special way, the angel Gabriel came and announced the good news to her. Yes, God did not take her free will. He through the Angel asked her willingness. When Mary said, “Let it be done according to your will, then only things began to change.
2. Once Mary came to know that she was chosen by God, she began to be humble and simple. She began to be more active of doing things to glorify God and His will.
3. She too extended her faith visiting Elizabeth and others and helping them.
4. The Church today honours her for as the mother of God, ever virgin, immaculate Mary.

And we may ask is today’s gospel about Jesus the only son of God?
1. The very name Jesus was given by the Angel means Saviour. He came to save humanity and take them back to God almighty.
2. While all the prophets, kings and holy men and women failed to communicate the divine wisdom and knowledge, God at last sent His only Son Jesus who said, “ call God father”
3. Everything Christ our Lord said through miracles and preaching, wonders and words takes us to God our father.
4. Christ our Good shepherd made us children of god.

Dear friends today’s gospel is all about you and me. Yes it is about us. God’s divine plan is to let us know that we are not alone. In our happiness and joy, in our suffering and pain, God is with us. When we call upon him, there we will see him face to face.

Once a man knelt before God and said, “God… I can not go like this any more and I am going to give up and the cross that I am carrying is too heavy”. God appeared to him and said, “Son, I will never let you carry any cross that is too heavy for you” then he took to a room where there were so many crosses with different sizes. The man saw crosses which never had beginning or end. Some were too heavy and huge. Then he finally saw a small cross on the wall. He looked at God and said, “God, please let me take the cross” God smiled at him and said, “Son… that was the cross you were carrying before”. God never let us carry anything too heavy. And in order to prove his unconditional love, he sent his only son Jesus to us. And today’s gospel is all about you and me. As we are going to celebrate the glorious event of Christmas, let us make it more meaningful by sharing your love and forgiveness with your family members and friends. Amen.

Second sunday in Advent

WHO IS JOHN THE BAPTIST TODAY?

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. His message was: “The Lord is coming. Let us prepare the way”.

And today who is John the Baptist? We are John the Baptist. Like John the Baptist, we are asked to call out people to welcome the Lord our God.

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

1. Calling:

Once a man was searching something under a hydro pole that was so bright, his neighbor who noticed that, went over and asked, “what are you looking for?’ The man said, ‘I lost my key’. So the man also joined him and the both began to search for the key. After an hour searching, the neighbor looked at him and asked, “by the way where did you loose your key?” the man said, “at home”. The man got mad and asked, “then why are you looking for it here?’

Then he said, “Because it is brighter here”.

They will always say, “search God where you have lost him”.

Some might have lost God in their marriage because they might have forgotten to renew their vows namely in good times and bad and in sickness and health, I will honor you and love you.

Some might have lost God in their children because they did not have enough time to be with their children especially with their teenage children.
Others might have lost God in their business and jobs because instead of enjoying what they do, they look at their jobs and people who were working with them as their enemies.

Then they come to church to find God but they get more stressed and depressed. Yes God should be found where we have lost him. John the Baptist invited people who lost God in their every day life. Dear friends when we help people to find God where they have lost Him, then we become John the Baptist today.

2. Healing

Once three Buddhist monks were traveling to a distant village to preach the message of Buddha 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 two monks went to every one 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.

3. Living 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 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.

Christ the king

CHRIST THE KING

Good morning every one. Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the king. Jesus who is our king and master and he died on the cross to bring back humanity to divine love.

Once there was a King who was famous for his judgment. He loved his people so much and he did everything for them. Milk and honey was flowing in his land. And one day, a man was brought before him. The man was accused of stealing and killing people; he was accused of destroying people’s life and property. The king listened to them all well and then he asked the man to say something but the man did not say a word, all he did was looking at the king. The king then granted justice saying, “This man was found guilty and I ordered him to be executed”. There was a deep silence because that was the first time a man was ever executed in his kingdom. Then the unexpected and extra ordinary thing happened. The king got up from the throne and took his king’s garment and robes and said to the people, “As a just king, I granted you all justice but now as the father of this man, I will take his place”.
The king said, “I will take his place and die”. This is called the summary of Christianity. Christ who is the king of all and just judge took our place and died for us all.

1. Christ the king said, “I am your servant and I came to serve and not to be served”. Servants were never treated well in those days and even today they are not respected. The owner of the house would call everybody by name and even he would call his dog with proper name but not his servant. Servants were never given names. They were their slaves and were treated miserably. And our Lord Jesus became a servant to humanity. In order to prove His service, He humbled himself and washed the feet of His disciples. And that is why God exalted Him above all else. Today we celebrate Him as our King and Messiah. When we serve others, when we do everything for the sake of humanity, then we will be exalted and we find meaning in everything we do, if not like a man once said, “I dig the ditch to make some money. I make the money, to buy some food and I buy food to get my strength and I get my strength to dig the ditch”, life will become meaningless.
2. Christ the king said, “I am the good shepherd and I feed my sheep with finest wheat. They know me and I call them by name. I came to look for the one sheep that was lost than the ninety-nine righteous people”. Once a tiny little sheep found a hole in the fence and through which he escaped. He went far away and forgot his way back. Then he realized that he was chased by a wolf. He ran and ran until the shepherd came and rescued him. Then he brought back to the fold. Then his friends came and advised him to repair or nail up the hole but he refused to do so. Yes, our lord gives us freedom to do everything and when we are in danger, He comes to rescue us. The freedom we have should help us to improve ourselves and others.
3. Christ the king says to the thief who said, “Please remember me in your kingdom”, “you will be with me in paradise this very day”. Our king is full of mercy and love. Today we need mercy a lot of mercy from our King.
Conclusion:
As we celebrate the feast of “Christ the king” today, let us celebrate our life. Let us also invite others to join us to celebrate the king who loves us unconditionally. Amen.

pray without ceasing

ASK AND IT WILL BE GIVEN.

When we ask with persistence, it will be given to us.

One day a priest looked at people and asked, “If you don’t have any enemy, please raise your hand. Nobody did and finally an older lady raised her hand. The priest invited her to the front and said, “even Christ our Lord had enemies, how come you don’t have any enemy?’ She said, “I outlived all my enemies and my third husband died last month”.
Then the priest said to her, “since you don’t have any enemy and you are good supporter of the church, I am going to ask you to pick up three hymns for our celebration”. She was so proud and looked at all women and men and said, “Him, him and him”.

Today’s gospel invites us to pray without ceasing. Every prayer that we make to God almighty has a certain value. Every time people came to Christ seeking healing, He asked them one question namely, “do you believe?’. When they answered, “Yes, Lord. We do”. They experienced healing. Praying to God without ceasing deepens our faith in Him. And people who pray to God with faith do receive healing and miracles.
How can we pray without ceasing?

The Muslims pray five times a day. The Buddhist and Hindus pray three times a day and every religious people pray and what about us who follow the lord. We can easily make our whole day a prayer. Yes, like St. Theresa of little flower or other saints who before began their day, dedicated their whole day to Christ saying, “Lord, I dedicate the whole day to you and bless my day” and thus whatever they did on the day became a prayer.

We all heard about St. Monica mother of St. Augustine. She spent so many years in prayer for her son’s conversion and because of her persistent prayer; St. Augustine changed his old way of life and became a great follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These days we all hear about the thirty-three miners in Chile who were trapped in a mine for sixty-nine days and they did survive those days because of their faith-filled prayers and the prayers of their family members and friends. Because of their perseverance in prayer, miracles happened. When our day filled with prayers, great things will happen to us.
In today’s gospel, Christ says, even if an unjust judge offers justice because of persistence how much more our heavenly father will bless us when we pray to Him without ceasing. Let us pray without ceasing and experience healing and miracles in our lives. Amen.

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.