EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

EPIPHANY OF THE LORD 

I am going to India tomorrow for a month and three of my friends called and they said, “we have two words for you as you are going to India” Since I know them all well for many, many years, I know exactly what they were going to say, two words, “Miss you”. So, I said, you are going to say, “Miss you”. They said, “No, not at all. All we want to say is, ‘Thank God”. 

Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates ‘Epiphany’ of the Lord. Epiphany can be divided into two words, Epi and Phania: Epi means above and Phania means reveal or manifestation. It is a manifestation from above or the revelation of Christ as our Savior and Lord. 

In today’s gospel, we meet with three different groups. The groups of king Herod, the groups of the Scribes and the Pharisees and the Magi’s group. 

1. The political group of Herod and his officials and others: The great philosopher Aristotle says that man is by very nature a political animal. Since he reasons and communicates, he can alter his situations. Even where there are two people, there will be a certain amount of politics which cannot be avoided in any way. Non-ethical and power- based politics will destroy the very core of society and Herod played power politics and thus he killed all his family members and others. When he heard about the new born king, the bible says, “He was frightened and all Jerusalem with him”. 

2. The religious group of the Pharisees and the Scribes: The most dangerous groups of all. Only the religious people killed Christ on the Cross. Even after the long interrogation, Pilate announced to the religious leaders saying, “I don’t find anything wrong with this man”. So, the religious fanatics screamed at loud voice saying, ‘Crucify Him, Crucify Him”. When religion, our faith and spirituality should help us to find the way, the life and the truth. 

3. Then comes the final group the Magi group and anyone who is constantly searching for the truth and looking for God belongs to this group, like the shepherds, the ordinary, everyday and the wise people. What they were looking for, they found it. They were constantly looking for God the Messiah and when the Messiah came, it was revealed to them. The Manifestation of the Lord filled their hearts, minds with the love and kindness of God. 

They say, “What you are looking for, is already looking for you”. The one amazing thing with this group is “Intensity”. They had that intensity of finding God and they found it. What is the use of finding God after death or tomorrow? It’s all about today, now. If we don’t find God, now. Then it’s always too late.  

Christ our Lord says that those who search will find it. With intensity and clarity as we look for God, we will find him. All we need is that great intensity. 

Once the man who went to a spiritual guru said, ‘You know what I have been looking for God all my life and I never found him. I go church to church and service to service and nothing happens, and I begin to suspect that there is no God. The Guru felt bad for him and took him to a river and then that unexpected event happened. He pushed his head in the water and was holding it for a minute or two and then as he let him out, looked at him and said, ‘I have only one question for you. When you were in the water, what were you thinking? The man said, ‘I wasn’t thinking about anything. All I was trying is just to breath. Yes, breathing was my only thing that I had in my mind”. 

Then the guru said, ‘If you have that same intensity to find God, you will find him not tomorrow or today but right now”. It's all depends on your intensity. The Buddhist story concludes saying, “The man was instantly enlightened’ 

In the book of Revelation, Jesus says, “Behold, I am standing at the door knocking and if anyone opens it, I will come in and thus I will dine with him and he with me”. Let us open the door and let the Master come in. Then everyday will be Epiphany for us. God bless. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

Good evening 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. Friends in Christ Jesus, let us thank God almighty for bringing us all here today to this beautiful Church of St. Joseph’s to celebrate the glorious birth of Christ our Lord. 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. 

Our special welcome to all our visitors to the best church in town. Today we celebrate the biggest historical event that has ever taken place in human history. We are celebrating the unimaginable event that has even occurred in the universe. Yes, God the creator, the source of our very being became human and willingly accepted to live 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 us orphaned. 

God’s love surpasses everything. When His own chosen people whom He loved without any condition, went away from Him; when His own people faced with challenges and difficulties and when His own people began to worship false gods and rejected his mercy and compassion, love and kindness; yet, yet, god did not abandon them. 

He knew his people and he knew that they 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 and at last, as the highest expression of love, He sent his only Son Jesus Christ because of Him, we live, move and have our being today. 

Yes, God sent His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ. As he was born in Bethlehem, the wise men came to worship him saying, “He is the king of Kings and the lord of all” And at the age of twelve, as Christ Jesus was found at temple in Jerusalem surrounded by rabbis, holy men and women, he proclaimed the love and kindness of God. 

At the age of thirty, before his public ministry, the Holy Spirit once again descended on Him and there came a voice from heaven saying, “this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased”. 

This mission of Christ is bringing people back to God almighty. By his preaching and teaching, by his miracles and wonders, Christ brought them all to onefold.  

Friends in Christ Jesus, 

Every time we celebrate the miraculous birth of Christ, we celebrate our birth, we celebrate our joy and happiness. Yes, every time we come to church, we receive the churches sacraments and we put our faith into practice, we celebrate Christ Jesus. 

Today what can we give it to Christ the giver of all that comes to us. What could be the best gift to Christ?  

Since everything that we see belongs to him and what can we possible give it to him? Let us give ourselves and thus join the angels and archangels and sing, ‘Glory to god in the highest”. Amen. 

4th Sunday-B

4th Sunday in Advent. 

Good evening/morning everyone. Last week, I called my sister-in-law and as I was talking to her said, “How come your voice is different?” she is, “Because I have cold”. “So, has our Mother”, I said. Then she said, “I got it first”. Then I told my brother, “you know what you used to beat me up and take my lunch money and calling wackadoodle and now you got between two women and that is called ‘Karma’. 

Once a wife said to her husband, “you won’t believe what kind of dream I had last night. In my dream, you are giving me a beautiful very expensive diamond necklace for Christmas and I don’t know what, it means”. The husband simply said, ‘Wait and see”. The second day also she repeated the same story. The husband again said, ‘Wait and see’. On Christmas day as she came down to the kitchen, she saw a beautiful gift from her husband waiting for her. She was all happy thinking, “Wow...that’s my diamond necklace” Then she opened the gift where she was a book titled, “How to interpret dream”. 

Once a Canadian spiritual man said, “In 1950s, kids lost their innocence. They were liberated by their well-paying jobs, Cars and new music and so on and there came a new term called, ‘Generation gap’. 

In 1960s, kids lost their authority, it was a decade of protest. Yes, they protested against, Church, government and parents. They completely rejected authorities and yet there was nothing to replace what they had rejected. Unfortunately, a complete vacuum was created but nothing could fill that emptiness. 

In 1970s, kids lost the meaning of love and it was a decade of Miism. It's all about self-image, self-love, self-help and self-growth and so on. Since everything about self and me, me, they forgot about true love. 

1n 1980s, kids lost their hope, they were stripped of their innocence, authority and love. They were more confused than ever. Nothing gave them meaning and hope. Thus, they began to experience more pain and suffering, more depression and anxieties. They stopped believing in future. 

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

There is hope, there is faith and there is love for those who put their trust in the Lord. 

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

It’s about Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Joseph is in the background hidden. A just man always does his job with sincerity of his heart.  

Then comes our Blessed Virgin Lady, the most pure and holy. In theology, we had one of the courses called ‘Mariology’, the science or study of blessed Mary. A nun taught Mariology and she was a very tough and would never give us A Plus. And on the day of oral exam, as I went in, I said, “Good morning Mother”. She said, “Why do you call me Mother? I am a sister. Please don’t say anything, your wisdom and knowledge are so vast, and I want to call you Mother. Then I looked at her and said as I was holding a rosary in my hand, I am very mad today. Why, tell me more. It’s because how come church can survive without a Mother. Blessed Lady is the glue that binds everything together. We go to Jesus through Mary and I went on and on. She gave me A plus and after that she singed on the paper and then I signed agreeing. Then as I was leaving, I looked at her and said, “Bye sister”. She said, ‘Why are you calling me, sister now?’ I like you but don’t be an idiot.  

There are two important qualities that we find in our blessed Lady. She is a community leader and a leader of humanity. 

After the Holy Spirit descended upon her, she became more active and more vibrant. She immediately got up and went to the hill country of Judea where she met with Elizabeth. That is called the power of leadership. A leader is the one who takes first step to change the situation and give more room to improvement and change. She took first step to bring peace and harmony. She never hesitated to share what she experienced and enjoyed. That kind of leadership we need today. Not holding on to something but share with others and let others move forward. 

Our blessed lady is a powerful leader of humanity. She never hesitated to great things in the presence of God. Once she accepted the will of God, she stood strong and powerful. She helped her beloved Son Jesus grow in wisdom and knowledge. He is her protect in so many ways. Even after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, she played a Prominet role to protect and lead what her son left behind. It’s not about men or women, it’s about the stamina, good will and personality and character design a person to become a leader to their community or humanity. 

Today our Catholic church needs more leaders who can lead the people and bring more peace and prosperity to all. So, let us move the church forward. Today we have the means to live but do you have meaning to live for? Only Jesus whose glorious birth we are going to celebrate soon, can give meaning to live for. Let us hold on to him and live life to the fullest. Amen.