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. 

Holy Christmas

Merry Christmas   Good evening every one, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Christmas Eve Mass celebration. Today we celebrate the biggest event that ever happened in human history, the unimaginable thing; yes God the Creator, the Source of all became human and lived among us like you and me. Today’s celebration of the glorious event of the birth of Christ the Only Son of God tells us that God never abandons His people and He will not leave anyone alone. His love surpasses everything.  When His own chosen people whom He loved without condition went away from Him, when His own people faced with pain and difficulties; when His own people began to worship false gods and rejected His mercy and compassion, God the Father did not abandon them. He knew people’s condition. He knew people were weak and fragile and He knew that they would come back to Him. And in order to bring them back to Him, He sent His kings, prophets, Holy men and women to them. Then at last, as the expression of His unconditional love, God sent His Only Son Jesus Christ Our Lord through whom everything came to exist and for whom everything was created. Yes, God sent His Son the Redeemer Jesus our Lord.  Jesus who was born in Bethlehem lived with poor, outcaste and rejected people and at the age of twelve, He manifested divine love at the temple in Jerusalem telling all the teachers, wise men and Pharisees and Sadducees that God loves everyone and everyone belongs to the kingdom of God.  At the age of thirty while He was baptized, the heavens opened and there came a voice saying to all, “this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him alone”. Then Christ our Lord with His disciples went everywhere preaching the Good News of Salvation to all. Jesus again and again says in the gospels that anyone who follows Him will have life everlasting and they will be with God Father forever.  Dear friends, every time we celebrate the miraculous birth of Jesus our Lord, we celebrate our birth, we celebrate our joy and happiness. Jesus is our Lord and Saviour. Today we celebrate our new life in Child Jesus. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we celebrate Christ’s birth, every time we receive anyone of the churches sacraments, we celebrate His life and every time we come here, we become like Christ our Lord, yes we become the God we worship. Today, what is our gift to child Jesus? Since everything what we see and have belongs to Him and what can we possibly give Him? We can give ourselves. Yes, we are the precious gift for Him. Let us give ourselves to child Jesus and join the angels and the shepherd and sing, “Glory to God in the Highest and peace to people of good will”. Amen.

Fourth Sunday of Advent-A

Fourth Sunday of Advent 

Good evening/morning every one. 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. 

Friends in Christ Jesus, let us thank God almighty for brining us all here to this beautiful Church of St. Jean de Brebeuf/ St Paul the Apostle Church. Let us thank God for sending His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ to be with us for ever. Let us thank God for showering upon us His countless blessings each and every day. 

Now let us take a moment to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ, calling to mind our sins, short-comings, pain, failure and sufferings asking divine assistance and Christ our Lord's forgiveness, mercy, compassion and love. 

Our special welcome to all our visitors today.  On the other day, someone asked me about how many hours it would take to travel to India. It's about 16 to 18 hours of flying and the amazing thing is at the end of travel, I will look like exactly the picture in the passport. If you ever want to lose weight, India is the best place. It's so hot and your fat will melt. 

Once a wife said to her husband, "You won't believe that I had a dream in which you are giving me a diamond necklace for Christmas and I don't know what it means. The husband said, "wait and see". Even before Christmas, she said, "I had the same dream that you are giving me a beautiful diamond necklace for Christmas and I don't know what it means. The husband said, "Wait and see". On Christmas day, the wife saw a Christmas gift waiting for her on the kitchen table...thinking how she tricked him opened the gift and there she saw a book named, 'How to interpret dreams'. 

Once a famous Canadian spiritual man said, 

 n 1950s, kids lost their innocence. They were liberated by their well paying jobs, cars and new music and there came a new term called 'Generation gap'. 

In 1960s, kids lost their authority, it was a decade of protest against Church, government and parents. They rejected authorities and yet nothing was replaced it. 

In 1970s, kids lost love and it’s a decade of miism. Its about self-image, self-love, self-help, self-growth and so on. Since everything was about Me...me, they forgot about the true meaning of love. 

In 1980s, kids lost their hope, they were stripped of their innocence, authority and self-love. They were more confused than ever. Nothing gave them meaning. They began to experience more pain and suffering, more depression and anxieties. They stopped believing in future. 

In 1990s, kids lost in the world of cyber space. Objects became subjects and subjects became meaningless. And thus we now live in a world of confusion, chaos, rejection and loss.  

But still there is hope, there is faith and there is love for those who put their trust in Christ our Lord. 

Yes, the fourth Sunday of Advent brings us all more hope, more faith and more love. 

Today's gospel is about Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  

It says that Joseph was a just man. Just man means one who is honest and God-fearing. Joseph did everything according to the will of God. He prayed to God unceasingly and practiced his faith going to synagogue and helping people who were in need. He put God first in everything he said or did. Everyone knew him in the small town of Nazareth and that is why when he found out that Mary was pregnant before marriage, he was afraid that his community would judge and stone her to death and thus wanted to dismiss her quietly. 

Because of his faith in God and service to community, he was blessed to have angels visiting him. When he was confused about the situation, the angel came to help him. Yes, as we put our faith in God and do everything according to His call, we too will be blessed to have angles  visiting us. God never abandons those who put their trust in Him. 

The story of Joseph brings hope to the hopeless and invites us to hope in God through Christ our Lord.  

Today's gospel also talks about Mary. 

Though Mary was chosen by God in a special way, God still sent His angel Gabriel to announce the Good News and asked her willingness to be the mother of God. God did not take her free will away. When Mary said, "let it be done according to His will", then only things began to change.  

Today if anyone comes to know that she was chosen by God, the very next day...she will get more likes on Facebook, she will be busy of tweeting and texting. She would say that I met with angel Gab and he was so cute... lol and so on. 

But Once Mary came to know that she was chosen by God, she became more humble and simple. She began to be more active of doing things for the glory of God and His will. She extended her faith visiting Elizabeth and others and helping all. The Church today honors her as the Mother of God, Ever Virgin and Immaculate. 

Today's gospel speaks about Jesus the only Son of God. The very name of Jesus has power and He came to save humanity and take them all back to His Father's kingdom. While all the prophets, kings and holy men and women failed to bring divine love, wisdom and knowledge, Jesus came at last and asked us all to call God, "Father', the highest revelation of all.  Everything Christ our God said through miracles, wonders and preaching take us to God our Father.  yes, He brought love...love that is unconditional.  

Conclusion: Because of Christ, we have more hope and Because of Him, we have more faith and because of Him, we have more love. Once a man prayed to God saying, "God, the world is without hope, faith and love...please do something before we die without faith, hope and love' And God said to him, "Son, I already did something". He said, "what did you do". God looked at him and said, "I created you".  Let us not become another question but be an answer. Amen.