Holy Trinity Sunday

Holy Trinity Sunday. 

Once Jesus asked His disciples, "What do people say that I am?' They said, "Some John the Baptist, others Elijah and Still others one of the prophets". Then He said, "What do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said, "You are the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, as an act of pure love and His will generated in consideration of various functions by which the Father is related to his creation. But on the fact of Scripture speaks as of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of persons not of three gods but only one God and consubstantially united with each other". Jesus then looked at Peter and said, "What?" 

Once on confirmation day, a bishop asked the children, "What is holy trinity?" One of the children said, "The Father is god, the Son is god and the Holy Spirit is god. But they are not three gods but only one God...It's a belief in Triune God". The bishop hard of hearing said, "I don't understand what you are saying". Then the deacon who was standing next to the bishop said, "Bishop, you suppose not to understand. It's a mystery". 

The Holy Trinity is one of the basic doctrines of Christianity. Every Catholic prayer begins and ends with the name of the trinity saying...in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. All the church's sacraments are administered in the name of the Holy Trinity. We bless ourselves in the name of the Holy Trinity.  

Since Holy Trinity is a mystery, our human mind cannot comprehend. One of the classical stories tells that once St. Augustine wanting to resolve the mystery of the Holy Trinity was walking along a sea shore where he saw a little boy taking water from the sea and pouring it on the shore using a small sea shell and when St. Augustine asked the boy what he was doing. The boy said, "I am going to take all the water from the sea and pour it on the shore using this sea shell..." 

 St. Augustine laughed and laughed and said, " It's impossible. How can you do this. Do you know the vastness of the ocean? Then the little boy looked at St. Augustine and said, "If you mortal with your limited and conditioned mind are trying to resolve the mystery of the Holy Trinity and then I can easily do this too..." When Augustine realized what was going on, the story ends saying the boy vanished from his sight.  

Yes, the Holy Trinity is the mystery. We never say in the names of the Father, son and the Holy Spirit instead in the name of the Father, son and the holy spirit. We believe in One God the Father almighty creator of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ the only Son of God who is now sitting at the right hand of God almighty. We believe in the Holy Spirit the sanctifier.  

The Old Testament has some hidden and vague references to the Holy Trinity. For example, in the book of Genesis, God says, "Let us make man in our own image and like us..." When people went against God and built babel, He said, "People are going against us. Let us go down and teach them to come back to us...." 

God talks about Himself in plural form. He says instead of saying, "I", we. God is a community of persons. The Father is the creator, the Son is the redeemer and the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier. They are not three gods but only one God. 

But God reveals Himself as Trinity of persons more in the New Testament. At the annunciation, God the Father sends His angels to Mary and the Holy Spirit comes upon her and the son becomes incarnate in her womb. 

At the baptism of the Lord, the Holy Spirit descends on Christ and the Father's voice says, "Behold my Son with whom I am well pleased..." 

Christ our Lord before ascending to the Father asks His disciples, "Go, therefore and baptize them all in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". 

The Holy Trinity is a mystery that deepens our faith in God, Son and the Holy Spirit. Many saints and holy men and women tried their best to explain the unexplainable mystery. St. Patrick used shamrock the three gloved leaves to explain the mystery. St. Cyril used the Sun and its light and its heat to explain the mystery.  

But the question is how can we explain the Creator by using His created things. God can only be experienced but not explained. The mystery of God deepens our faith in God. 

The story of three monks in an island says as their bishop visited them, he found out that they did not even know the Lord's prayer and the bishop took time to teach them. Then as he left the island and his little ship was back in the open sea, he noticed that the three monks were walking on the water. In fact they were running towards the ship. Then they said to the bishop, "Please teach us the our father prayer again. We forgot it. The bishop who was so amazed their walking on the water said, "How are you pray then?" They said, "Holy God, we are three and you are three and we adore you".  

As we deepen our faith in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we too can experience miracles and wonders and we too can do amazing things in His name and we too can bring back our family members and friends back to Church. So let us deepen our faith in the trinity and bless ourselves as often as we can saying, "In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit". Amen.

The Ascension of the Lord

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST  Good evening/morning everyone. I am so happy to welcome you all for today's Holy Mass. Our special welcome to all our parishioners, Summer parishioners, visitors and everyone here today. Friends in Ascended Christ, let us thank God almighty for bringing us all here to this beautiful Church of St. Paul the Apostle community. Let us thank Him, for sending His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ to be with  us forever. Let us thank Him for showering upon us the gifts of the Holy Spirit each and every day.  Once  an older woman went to church and said to the usher, "would you please kindly take me to the front pew". The usher was so helpful saying to her, "why front pew. Our pastor's preaching is so boring. Why don't do sit at the back". She said, "Do you know who I am?" No. Then she said, "I am the pastor's Mother". Then the usher looked at her and said, "Do you know who I am?" She said, "No. I don't" And he said, "Thank God". 

Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates the solemn feast of the Ascension of Christ our Lord. 

Christ our Lord, after His glorious Resurrection, for forty days stayed on earth, appearing to His apostles, disciples and other followers preparing them to send out to preach the Good News of Salvation. As He appeared to them, He shared with them divine peace, the peace that the world cannot give. And on the fortieth day, in the presence of His disciples and followers, wake taken up bodily to heaven. Yes, He who descended to be with us, He who did miracles and wonders for us and He who suffered and died on the cross for us and He who rose from the dead, ascended into heaven. 

Once Leonardo Da Vinci started a beautiful painting and for a while he worked at it. It came out so beautiful with its perspective, outline and color then he suddenly stopped the painting. He stopped working on it and asked one of his students to finish it. The student was horrified and shocked and said, "you are a genius and you know what you do. How can I finish your work? Da Vinci  silenced him saying, "will not what I have done inspire you to do your best?' 

Yes, Christ before ascending to His Father asks His disciples to look after His sheep and asks them to finish the picture saying He will be with us until the end of time. 

1. The Ascension of the Lord tells us where the Risen Christ is now: He is now sitting at the right hand of the Father and fulfilling all our needs. The Good Shepherd is looking after His sheep. Jesus who lived, died and came back to life is still with us. Every time we pray, read the bible and come to Church, we experience His presence among us     2. The Ascension of the Lord tells us why Christ appeared to His disciples: He appeared to them to remove their fears and anxieties. He appeared to the to increase their hope and faith and He appeared to them so that they would know that Christ loves them unconditionally. Every time, Christ appeared to them, He gave them peace and hope saying, "Do not be afraid. I will be with you until the end of time"  3. The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that the Lord will come again on the last day. His coming will be our glory and joy. He comes to judge us and those who follow Him, will have life everlasting. And we who follow Him will be given new life. Let us continue His mission of love and forgiveness until the Lord comes.   4. The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that those who follow Him should go out and preach the Good News to all, baptizing them in the name of the father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says we do not need to be worried of what to say and how to say it, because everything will be given to us at that time.   So let us celebrate his resurrection and ascension and celebrate our life in Him. Amen.

Six Sunday of Easter- year A

LOVE ONE ANOTHER 

 Today we celebrate the new commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ who says, "As I have loved you, you should love one another". Yes, Love fulfills all other commandments of our Creator. We will be known as Christians by our love. Only out of love, God sent His Son to us and only out of love, Jesus died on the Cross for us. Where there is love, there is God. And we are here to know the presence of God by loving one another. 

 1. In early days, while the Roman emperors enjoyed watching the circus events in which Christians were tortured and killed by lions, gladiators, said to each other, "see how these Christians love each other". Even in the face of great danger, Christians still had time to support each other. The followers of Christ did everything with Christian love. When Mother Theresa went to India to begin her mission, she didn't take with her money or any other material thing but Christ's love. The way she talked about divine love, people who were not Christians came to her to listen. She talked about self-sacrificing love and a giving and generous love, yes Christ's love. Because she rooted her faith in the new commandment of Christ. 

  

  

2. Once Napoleon was told that a new preacher came to his city and wanted to preach to his people. Then Napoleon said to his men, "I will let his preach, If he would preach about God's love like Jesus, if he would suffer like Jesus and die like Him on the Cross and would come back to life on the third day". For two thousand years, many tried their best to define love and its meaning and every one of them failed because they all only taught about love but our Lord Jesus Christ by dying on the Cross set an example for self-sacrificing love. If we love the  Lord, let us love like him and if we follow the Lord, let us put the love into practice. 

 3. Once a tourist said to his guide, "you have a right to be proud of your town. I was especially impressed with the number of Churches in it. The people here must love the Lord" The guide said, "Yes, of course, they may love the Lord but they sure as hell hate each other. When people fight with each other in the name of God, when they kill and destroy each other in the name of religion, then they can't be followers of Christ. 

 Conclusion: Christians are those who follow Christ. They know that all the prophets and the teaching of the testaments complete in love. When we love one another, we complete the commandment of Christ our love. Amen. 

Mother's day-fifth sunday in Easter

Mother's Day. 

Fifth Sunday of Easter. 

Once a bishop looked at all his priests and said, "You know what you should begin your homily with a story to inspire your people...For example, the last time, I looked at people and said, "I am in love with a beautiful woman and then I said her name is Blessed Virgin Mary". So priest went back to his parish wanting to imitate the bishop and as he was standing up to preach, he sees the bishop himself is standing at the back of the church, so he gets so nervous and says, "The Bishop is in love with a married woman and I cannot remember her name".  

Her name is Blessed Virgin Mary. Wife of St. Joseph and the mother of God. As we all know that the month of May is the month of our Lady, we are happy to celebrate 'Mother's day'.  Let us thank God for all our mothers who sacrifice so much for the wellbeing and happiness of their children. Let us also pray for every woman who promotes justice and peace around the world. 

Once a little boy forgot his lines in the school skit celebration in which he was participating. His mother who was sitting in the front row helped him whispering, "Say, I am the light of the world". The boy was so happy because he got the line and said proudly, "My mother is the light of the world".  

Mothers are so dedicated and help their children to grow in faith. They love their children so much and they do anything for their children to be happy and grow in the love and kindness of God. There is a beautiful story of a mother and her seven children in the second book of Maccabees. What happens is that seven brothers and their mother were forced to abandon their faith in God Almighty and worship the king. They say, "No..." And thus one by one was being killed in the presence of their mother and the mother encourages them to die for the faith and love. She also gives up her life courageously. A mother who loved her children so much and she wanted them to live eternally. Faith begins at home and mothers dedicate their time, energy and resources to help their children grow stronger in faith. My mother never sent me to church but she took me to church. When a mother does good things for her children, they will do better things for her in the future. 

Once king Solomon was asked to give a verdict on a case in which two women claimed for one child. They both said that the child belonged to them. Then Solomon who was known for his wisdom and understanding said, "Bring me a sword and cut the living child into two and give half to one and half to the other. Then the real mother came forward pleading to the king saying, "Please do not kill the child. Give the child to her. I want my child to be alive and happy". At that point, King Solomon decided who the real mother is . Motherhood is spiritual in nature and it can only be identified with sacrifice and love.  

When a mother has a strong faith, her children's faith will be stronger.  Our Lord Jesus Christ as at the age of twelve disappeared at the temple in Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary were searching for him and at last when they found Him, Blessed Mary was the one who looked at Him and said, "Son, why did you do this to us?" And the Holy Bible says afterwards He went down with them and thus began to grow in wisdom and knowledge before God and others. Parents who help their children to grow in the fear of God do a great thing to their society and their country.  

Christ the only Son of God who came down to bring the love of God says to His disciples, "I am going away...not to abandon you but to prepare a place for you so that where I am you may be too. Then to Thomas and all others who asked Him to show the way says, "I am the way, the truth and the life and no one can go to the father except through me" and then to Phillip who asked to show the Father says, "Oh Phillip, you have been with me all this time and you are asking me to show the father. If you have seen me then you have seen the Father...the father and I are one" 

As we all know that even women who do not have children are also considered mothers. For example, Mother Teresa who was always called Mother by all. It is because of her love and kindness towards humanity. She practiced what she believed. She sowed the seed of love in  humanity. Her whole life was a lesson of love. So let us thank God for all women who dedicate themselves to promote love and kindness; who promote faith and hope to humanity. Amen.