New Year 2020.

Today we celebrate the oldest of all Marian feasts in our liturgy, most appropriate for new beginnings, with new resolutions, and renewed hopes. Today’s Feast of Mary, the Mother of God is a very appropriate way to begin a new year. This celebration reminds us that the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is also our Heavenly Mother.  Hence, our ideal motto for the New Year 2020 should be “To Jesus through Mary!”

In today's Gospel Mary teaches us one of the most important virtues of all: wisdom. St Luke tells us how Mary responded to the wonderful things that God was doing in and around her: "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." Just as Mary’s womb was open to receiving God's living Word at the moment of Christ's Incarnation, so her heart was constantly open to receiving God's ongoing words and messages as He continued to speak through the events of her life.

This capacity and habit of reflecting in our heart on God's action in our lives is both a sign and a source of wisdom. That will increase our trust and faith in Him.

We do not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future in his hands. Like the Blessed Mother, let us be more trusting in God’s providence and love. Trusting in God everyday will deliver greater things in our lives than trusting in our own strength.

A little boy and his father visited the country store, and upon leaving the store, the owner of the store offered the little boy some free Sweets... “Get a hand full of Sweets", the merchant said to the boy. The boy
just stood there looking up at his father. The owner repeated himself:- “Son get a hand full of Sweets... it’s free.” Again the boy did not move, continuing to look up in the face of his father. Finally the father reached into the candy jar and got a hand full of Sweets and gave it to his son.
As they walked back home, the father stopped and asked his son why he did not grab a hand full of the free candy. The boy with a big smile on his face looked into the face of his father and said:- “Because I know that your HAND is BIGGER than mine.”
So, whatever our needs are for 2020, please place them in the FATHER'S HAND IN HEAVEN, because HIS HAND is BIGGER THAN OURS. And so make sure we receive everything in the new year from Our Father’s hands. That will make us also rich in God’s eyes.

Some time ago someone asked Bill Gates. Is there any person richer than you?

Bill Gates replied, “Yes, there is a person who is richer than me.” He then narrated a story. “It was during the time when I wasn’t rich. I was at New York Airport when I saw a newspaper vendor. I wanted to buy one newspaper but found that I don’t have enough change. I told him of not having the change.

The vendor said, “I am giving you this for free. On his insistence I took the newspaper. I landed the same airport and again I was short of change for a newspaper. The vendor offered me the newspaper again. I refused and said that I can’t take it for I don’t have a change today too. He said, you can take it, I am sharing this from my profit.”

After 19 years I became famous and known by people. I began searching for him and after about 1½ months I found him. I asked him, “Do you know me?” He said, “Yes you are Bill Gates.” I asked him again, “Do you remember once you gave me a newspaper for free.” The vendor said, “Yes, I remember. I gave you twice.”

I said, “I want to repay the help you had offered me that time.” The vendor said, Sir, don’t you think that by doing so you won’t be able to match my help?” I asked, “Why?”

He said, “I helped you when I was a poor newspaper vendor and you are trying to help me now when you have become the richest man in the world. How can your help match mine?”

That day I realized that the newspaper vendor is richer than me. People need to understand that the truly rich are those who possess rich heart rather than lots of money.

It is very important to have a rich heart to help others. The psalmist prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Let it be our resolution and prayer for the New Year: Create in me a clean heart O God.  Wish you all a very Happy New Year 2020.

The Holy Family

A:Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Col 3:12-21;   Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

God created us in his own image and likeness. To be created in the image of God is to be created for family life. God could not have exalted the family more than he did by joining one. Just as God is a Trinity, a communion of three Persons sharing the divine nature, we also are created to find fulfillment in community, in the intricate network of relationships that makes each one of us dependent on others, and others dependent on us.

Christmas break gives us a great image of what the family can be: Everyone together, in the glow of the birth of Jesus, giving and receiving gifts with each other.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph is put before us today by the Church as a model for our families to imitate. From His birth to the beginning of His public life, Jesus chose to experience all the aspects of human life. If Jesus was to help men, he must know what were men’s lives. He did not come to a protected life, but he came to the life that any ordinary man must live.  He experienced the hardships of the people who are forced to leave their home and kinsmen; he experienced the problems of an ordinary workman, while working as a carpenter in Nazareth; and He experienced the pangs of death when his foster father died. 

In our eagerness and anxiety to provide the best for our children some parents do not give them any chance to experience the world in which they live. we try to provide them the best education, so they ignore the illiteracy around. We struggle to provide them the best food, so they are unaware of the poverty that exists around them. We want to give them the best of everything, so they do not see the suffering in the world. But in our culture, children disappear into their own worlds through devices and individual pastimes, ignoring their parents.

We are human beings, our family life doesn't come ready- made. An old saying goes like this: Everyone's greatest blessing is also their greatest curse. At least sometimes, most of us probably feel that way about family life. Somehow, our greatest joys and our greatest sufferings are both linked up with family relationships.

Our families are not just centers of great peace; they are sources of enormous pain. There are misunderstandings, failings, unkindness and unforgiveness, slights small and large. Families smother us or disappoint us.

The fact that family life is tough, in fact, is paradoxically why that it is so beneficial — our families force us out of our narcissistic focus on ourselves, they solve the twin problems of pride and low self-esteem, and they give us an almost unavoidable way to live out the commandment to serve others before ourselves. This hurts us, then saves us.

The perfect family is not pre-fabricated somewhere and available for purchase on a wedding register. Family life is a task, a calling we have received from God.

Today’s first reading, from the book of Sirach summarizes the relationship of father, mother and children. Sirach reminds children of their duty to honour their parents – even when it becomes difficult. He also mentions the two-fold reward which the Bible promises to those who honour their father and mother - “riches” and “long life”. These are two things we all wish for. 

 The first thing we can do to live a healthy Christian family life is to respect family roles. Just as the natural structure of a tree includes roots, trunk, and branches, so the natural structure of the family includes dad, mom, and children. They all go together and they all need each other in order to bear the fruit of maturity, wisdom, and happiness.

In his book “My Father, My Son,” Dr. Lee Salk describes a moving interview with Mark Chapman, the convicted slayer of Beatle John Lennon. At one point in the interview, Chapman says: “I don’t think I ever hugged my father. He never told me he loved me…I needed emotional love and support. I never got that.” Chapman’s description of how he would treat a son if he had one is especially tragic, because he will probably never get out of prison and have a family of his own. He says: “I would hug my son and kiss him…and just let him know…he could trust me and come to me…and (I would) tell him that I loved him.” Dr. Salk ends his book with this advice to fathers and sons. It applies equally well to mothers and daughters. “Don’t be afraid of your emotions, of telling your father or your son that you love him and that you care. Don’t be afraid to hug and kiss him. “Don’t wait until the deathbed to realize what you’ve missed.”

The Holy Family literally centered their life around Jesus. Let’s put Jesus at the center of our families too. St. Paul says in the Second Reading “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly … singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Besides going to Mass together let’s read scripture together and pray the Rosary every night to make Jesus a part of daily life.

Christmas Morning Mass:  2019

Eight-year-old Benny died of AIDS in 1987. CBS made a movie drama about the trauma called Moving Toward the Light. As Benny lies dying in his mother’s arms, he asks, “What will it be like?” His mother whispers softly in his ear, “You will see a light, Benny, far away — a beautiful, shining light at the end of a long tunnel. And your spirit will lift you out of your body and start to travel toward the light. And as you go, a veil will be lifted from your eyes, and suddenly, you will see everything … but most of all, you will feel a tremendous sense of love.” “Will it take long?” Benny asks. “No,” his mother answers, “not long at all. Like the twinkling of an eye.” Many families have been devastated by AIDS. Amid the darkness and despair an eight-year-old boy and his mother witnessed to the sustaining power of the light of God’s presence. They have touched the lives of a multitude of people. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. — 1 John 1:5

The gospel we just read tells us that the “Word became Flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

Pope Benedict once asked, “What did Jesus actually bring? We still have wars. We still get sick. People still suffer. We still die. What did Jesus bring?”

His answer? “Jesus brings us God.”

This is what we celebrate at Christmas. Jesus brings us God. 

The cause of Christian joy isn’t presents. The cause of Christian joy isn’t a trouble-free life. The cause of Christian joy is Jesus Christ, God-With-Us.

Christ is still present in the world today. In a unique way, he’s present in mystery in the sacraments. When we receive the Eucharist, we receive him. If we’re ready to receive him, after a good confession, he’s truly present in our souls. And he wants us to make him present to others.

We need to experience Jesus as Emmanuel. The real meaning of Christmas actually is Emmanuel, God-with-us – God coming down to us; God seeking us out; God coming alongside us; God revealing Himself to us; God bringing us forgiveness, healing, comfort, moral strength, and guidance — God dwelling within us. Each one of us has, deep down in our soul, an incredible hunger: a hunger for purpose and meaning; a hunger to feel and celebrate the redeeming, forgiving, sustaining love of God; a hunger to be in the presence of God. Christmas is special because it reminds us concretely that God is, indeed, with us. In every circumstance of life, even when we are frightened or lonely or in sorrow, God is with us. As we celebrate the Incarnation of the Word of God this Christmas, we might make a conscious effort both to remember that Jesus is always with us in our hearts and in the Eucharist and to share our joy in His presence with others.

Years ago a young man was riding a bus from Chicago to Miami. He had a stop-over in Atlanta. While he was sitting at the lunch counter, a woman came out of the ladies’ rest room carrying a tiny baby. She walked up to this man and asked, “Would you hold my baby for me, I left my purse in the rest room.” He did. But as the woman neared the front door of the bus station, she darted out into the crowded street and was immediately lost in the crowd. This guy couldn’t believe his eyes. He rushed to the door to call the woman but couldn’t see her anywhere. Now what should he do? Put the baby down and run? When calmness finally settled in, he went to the Traveler’s Aid booth and together with the local Police, they soon found the real mother. You see, the woman who’d left him holding the baby wasn’t the baby’s real mother. She’d taken the child. Maybe it was to satisfy some motherly urge to hold a child or something else. No one really knows. But we do know that this man, breathed a sigh of relief when the real mother was found. After all, what was he going to do with a baby? In a way, each of us, is in the same sort of situation as this young man. Every Christmas God Himself walks up to us and asks, “Would you hold My Baby for Me, please?” And then thrusts the Christ Child into our arms.  And we’re left with the question, “What are we going to do with this Baby?” Take him with us or leave him back in the church and go home and celebrate Christmas? Don’t we all feel comfortable with Jesus in a manger? And not coming with us and becoming part of our lives? If we take him with us we need to remember to feed him, nurture him daily and make him grow in our life through prayer and sacraments. Let’s make the choice now, take him with us or leave him right here and come and see him only on Sundays?

Christmas Vigil-2019

The season of Advent is past, and the period of anticipation is complete. Now it is time to commemorate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, which occurred some 2,000 years ago.  Looking through the telescope of Christ’s Resurrection, the New Testament authors, as well as the Fathers of the Church, reexamined foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, in the writings of the prophets, and they identified Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

Why did God want to become a human being?

Ideas affect our actions. The idea that we have of another person affects how we relate to that person. If someone gives me a million dollars, I am going to think he is a great guy, and I will treat him accordingly.

If I find out that a friend has been stealing from my bank account, I am going to think he is a liar and a back-stabber, and my dealings with him will turn cold. Our idea of someone affects how we interact with them. What is our idea of God? What do we think God is like?

As the Catechism teaches us, God is the origin and end of all things, and "man was created to live in communion with God, in whom he finds happiness" (#45). Communion with God, a relationship with God, this is what we were created for. But the quality of that relationship depends on what we think this God is like. Someone who doesn't believe in God at all will have no relationship with him. Someone who thinks God is an angry, intolerant tyrant will have a fearful, unstable relationship with him. Someone who thinks God is a distant and impersonal force will have a cold, distant relationship with God.

God became man on Christmas Night 2000 years ago because he wanted to correct our mistaken ideas about what he's like. He wants us to have the right idea about him, so that we can live in a right relationship with him. To have a relationship with him we need to accept and welcome him in our life.

We need to reserve a room for Jesus in our heart. Christmas asks us a tough question. Do we close the doors of our hearts to Jesus looking for a place to be reborn in our lives? There is no point in being sentimental about the doors slammed by the folks in Bethlehem, if there is no room in our own hearts for the same Jesus coming in the form of the needy. We need to reverence each human life, and to treat others respectfully as the living residences of the incarnate God. To neglect the old, to be contemptuous of the poor or to have no thought for the unemployed and the lonely, is to ignore those individuals with whom Christ has so closely identified Himself. Hence, we all need to examine ourselves daily on the doors we close to Jesus.

 We need to experience Jesus as Emmanuel: The real meaning of Christmas actually is Emmanuel, God-with-us – God coming down to us; God seeking us out; God coming alongside us; God revealing Himself to us; God bringing us forgiveness, healing, comfort, moral strength, and guidance — God dwelling within us. Each one of us has, deep down in our soul, an incredible hunger: a hunger for purpose and meaning; a hunger to feel and celebrate the redeeming, forgiving, sustaining love of God; a hunger to be in the presence of God. Christmas is special because it reminds us concretely that God is, indeed, with us. In every circumstance of life, even when we are frightened or lonely or in sorrow, God is with us. As we celebrate the Incarnation of the Word of God this Christmas, we might make a conscious effort both to remember that Jesus is always with us in our hearts and in the Eucharist and to share our joy in His presence with others.

Years ago a young man was riding a bus from Chicago to Miami. He had a stop-over in Atlanta. While he was sitting at the lunch counter, a woman came out of the ladies’ rest room carrying a tiny baby. She walked up to this man and asked, “Would you hold my baby for me, I left my purse in the rest room.” He did. But as the woman neared the front door of the bus station, she darted out into the crowded street and was immediately lost in the crowd. This guy couldn’t believe his eyes. He rushed to the door to call the woman but couldn’t see her anywhere. Now what should he do? Put the baby down and run? When calmness finally settled in, he went to the Traveler’s Aid booth and together with the local Police, they soon found the real mother. You see, the woman who’d left him holding the baby wasn’t the baby’s real mother. She’d taken the child. Maybe it was to satisfy some motherly urge to hold a child or something else. No one really knows. But we do know that this man, breathed a sigh of relief when the real mother was found. After all, what was he going to do with a baby? In a way, each of us, is in the same sort of situation as this young man. Every Christmas God Himself walks up to us and asks, “Would you hold My Baby for Me, please?” And then thrusts the Christ Child into our arms.  And we’re left with the question, “What are we going to do with this Baby?” Take him with us or leave him back in the church and go home and celebrate Christmas? Don’t we all feel comfortable with Jesus in a manger? And not coming with us and becoming part of our lives? If we take him with us we need to remember to feed him, nurture him daily and make him grow in our life through prayer and sacraments. Let’s make the choice now, take him with us or leave him right here and come and see him only on Sundays?

OT XXVIII [C]: II Kgs 5:14-17; II Tm 2:8-13; Lk 17:11-19

Winston Churchill loved to tell the story of the little boy who fell off a pier into deep ocean water. An older sailor, heedless of the great danger to himself, dove into the stormy water, struggled with the boy, and finally, exhausted, brought him to safety. Two days later the boy’s mother came with him to the same pier, seeking the sailor who rescued her son. Finding him, she asked, “You dove into the ocean to bring my boy out?” “I did,” he replied. The mother angrily demanded, “Then where’s his hat?” In today’s Gospel Jesus tells the story of nine ungrateful lepers.

Normally the Jews and the Samaritans did not mix together, yet this group of lepers consisted of both Jews and a Samaritan. Their misery brought them together. Often it is misery that helps us shed their pride and come down to the level of others. Out of those ten, the one who was a foreigner, was the only one who returned and thanked Jesus. The Old Testament prescribed that when a Jewish leper was healed, he had to go to the local priest to confirm that he was now clean and permitted to mix among the general public. For the Samaritan, he had to go to his own priest near Mount Gerizim. This demand of Jesus required a greater act of obedience because of the long travelling involved. While the demand was greater upon the Samaritan, he was the only one to show gratitude for the gift of healing that he received.

Gratefulness is such an important virtue, that God put it at the very center of Christian worship: the celebration of the Eucharist. Now, in creating and redeeming us, God has done us a favor much bigger than anything we could ever do for him. As the responsorial psalm said: The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

Fr. Roger Landry beautifully explains the connection between the Holy Mass and Jesus’ thanksgiving. Every Mass we’re called to grow in this spirit of thanksgiving, because the Eucharist is Jesus’ own prayer of Thanksgiving to the Father. The Greek word from which we derive the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.” During the Mass, the priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” Everyone responds, “It is right and just.” And then the priest replies with a saying of great theological depth: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, Holy Father, almighty and eternal God.” Before Jesus said the words of consecration on the night he would be betrayed, on the vigil of his crucifixion, he took bread and, as we will hear anew today, “gave thanks.” He gave thanks because he was constantly thanking the Father. He gave thanks because he knew that the Father would bring the greatest good out of the greatest evil of all time which would happen to him after the Mass was done. He gave thanks because it would be through his passion, death and resurrection, that Jesus would institute the means by which we would be able to enter into his own relationship with the Father. The Mass is the school in which we participate in Jesus’ own thanksgiving, the thanksgiving the Church makes continuously from the rising of the sun to its setting.

St. Paul tells us to give thanks to God in all circumstances. How do we give thanks in all circumstances? Here are two practical tips.

At the end of each day, dedicate a few minutes to reviewing the gifts God has given us, and thanking him for them. This keeps our hearts alive with gratitude.

And secondly, it’s vital to form the habit of thanking God throughout the day. When something good happens, say “Thank you Jesus for your friendship and your love.” When something unpleasant happens, still say “Thank you Jesus, for your friendship and your love.”

Daniel Defoe gave us some good advice through his fictitious character Robinson Crusoe. The first thing that Crusoe did when he found himself on a deserted island was to make out a list. On one side of the list he wrote down all his problems. On the other side of the list he wrote down all of his blessings. On one side he wrote: I do not have any clothes. On the other side he wrote: But it’s warm and I don’t really need any. On one side he wrote: All of the provisions were lost. On the other side he wrote: But there’s plenty of fresh fruit and water on the island. And on down the list he went. In this fashion he discovered that for every negative aspect about his situation, there was a positive aspect, something to be thankful for. It is easy to find ourselves on an island of despair. Perhaps it is time that we sit down and take an inventory of our blessings.”

Besides thanking God say sincere thanks to someone who really helped you in your life, your spouse or your parents; or it could be a note to a coworker or a friend who’s been there for you. Gratitude makes us more like God, and opens our hearts to a deeper relationship with him. It’s something we won’t regret. 

In gratefulness to the God of Israel, Naaman carried a load of soil with him from Israel so that he could stand in that soil and worship the God of Israel everyday to thank Him for healing him of his leprosy.  Instead of carrying the soil from Calvary we come and stand at the foot of the cross in spirit and join that sacrifice of Jesus every Sunday. Let’s offer everything him of ours for the wonderful gift of salvation he gave us.

Today, and every Sunday, let's be like the grateful Samaritan: let's do it with all our hearts.

OT XXVII [C] Hb 1:2-3; 2:2-4; II Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10

Many years ago, a famous shoe company sent one of its salespeople to a faraway country to start a business.  After a few months he sent back the message: “I am coming home. Nobody wears shoes here.”  The same company sent another salesperson to the same backward area.  After a few months she sent this message to the home office: “Send more order forms! Nobody wears shoes here! Hence, I can sell more shoes.”  The second salesperson saw the opportunity in her situation – not the difficulty.  She succeeded because she had faith in her product, faith in the people and faith in her ability to canvass customers.   Today’s readings tell us that if we have a little Faith – even the smallest amount – in God’s power, which He is glad to share with us, then we’re on the right track.

All three readings of today speak a lot about “Faith” and how it works in our lives. The first reading defines Faith as trust and steadfast expectation in the face of suffering and delay. The second reading explains why Faith gives us a new way of looking at things and a new way of living.  Paul reminds Timothy, and us that Faith is our acceptance of Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises of God.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his Apostles that Faith allows us to share in God’s power, and, hence, even in small quantities, deep Faith enables Him to work miracles in our lives and in the lives of others. It is Faith which makes one just, putting him into right relation with God and neighbor. While the Apostles ask for an increase in the quantity of their Faith, Jesus reminds them, and us, that the quality of their faith is more important. He used the parables of the mustard seed and the good servant to help them understand the need for strong Faith.  For Faith to be effective, it must be linked with trust, loving obedience and total commitment — an active submission to God and a willingness to do whatever He commands, even in tough times. Jesus reminds them that it is not the greatness of their Faith, but rather the greatness of God’s power working through them that will move mountains (Mt 17:20; Mk 11:23).   A mustard seed is very tiny; there is a chance of losing it if it is not handled carefully. Likewise, Faith: if it is not handled carefully there is a chance of losing it. We have to feed Faith.

At the end of World War II, it is reported, the Allied soldiers were searching farmhouses for snipers. In one abandoned house, which was almost a heap of rubble, they had to use their flashlights to get to the basement. On the crumbling wall, they spotted a Star of David.  It had obviously been scratched by a victim of the Jewish Holocaust. And beneath it was the following message in clear but rough lettering: “I believe in the sun -even when it does not shine.  I believe in love – even when it is not shown. I believe in God – even when He does not speak.” -Like the Holocaust victim who had inscribed those uplifting words on the basement wall, Mother Teresa believed in the sun-even when it did not shine. She believed in love -even when it was not shown. And she believed in God -even when God did not speak. In her secret and personal letters Mother Teresa revealed that for almost 50 years, she went through what is best described as “the dark night of the soul,” driving her to doubt the existence of Heaven and even God. Said a Jesuit priest, Fr. James Martin, “I have never read a saint’s life where the saint has had such an intense spiritual darkness. No one knew she was that tormented.” Like all of us, Mother Teresa was but human. And it is only natural that we, like her, will experience times of doubt, loneliness, dryness and even denial. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!”

We need to grow in Faith by using the means Christ has given us in His Church.  We must cultivate our Faith through prayer, Bible study, and leading a well-disciplined spiritual life. Faith is the gift of God—so we must pray that God will increase our Faith. Time spent with God in prayer is fundamental to the development of Faith.  We must pray for a Faith that is strong enough to overcome the difficulties and crises we face daily.  In addition, association with people of Faith builds Faith.  Hence, our participation in the Holy Mass (“the mystery of Faith”), and the life of the Church is important.   Sacred Scriptures inform and correct our Faith. Without the guidance of the Scriptures, our Faith tends to be weak.    We grow in Faith as we act in Faith. Every gift of God is strengthened by the exercise of it. Someone has said, “Charity means pardoning what is unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all. Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. And faith means believing the incredible, or it is no virtue at all.”

Let’s place the mustard seed of our faith in the hand of God and ask Him to help us move mountains of unforgiveness and disbelief in God, and thereby transform our lives for the glory of God.

OT XXIV [C] Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; I Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32

A divorced woman found herself struggling with an increasingly rebellious teenage daughter. It all came to a head late one night when the police called her to pick up her daughter who had been arrested for drunk driving.  The two of them didn’t speak on the way home or next day either, until at last the mother broke the tension by giving her daughter a small, gift-wrapped package.  The girl opened it with an air of indifference and found inside a small rock.  “Well, that’s cute, Mom.  What is it?” “Read the card, dear,” the mother replied.   As the girl did so, tears began to trickle down her cheeks, and she gave her mom a hug as the card fell to the floor.  On the card her mother had written: “This rock is more than 200 million years old.  That’s how long it’ll take before I give up on you.”  That’s what Jesus is telling us about God in today’s readings: He never gives up on us.

Today’s readings remind us that God actively seeks out the lost, wants their repentance and rejoices when the lost are found.

 Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel has been called “the Gospel within the Gospel,” because it is the distilled essence of the Good News about the mercy of our forgiving Heavenly Father. The whole chapter is essentially one distinct parable, the “Parable of the Lost and Found,” with three illustrations.  (We chose the optional shorter version). Loss, searching, finding, rejoicing, and sharing of the joy is the pattern in the first two parables. These parables remind us that we have a God who welcomes sinners and forgives their sins whenever they return to Him with genuine contrition and resolution.

The shepherds were famous for their dedicated, sacrificial service, perpetual vigilance, and readiness for action.  Hence, the shepherd was the national symbol of Divine Providence and self-sacrificing love in Israel. Two or three shepherds might be personally responsible for the sheep owned by several families in a village. If any sheep was missing, one of the shepherds would go in search of it, sending the other shepherds home with the flock. The whole village would be waiting for the return of the shepherd with the lost sheep and would receive him with shouts of joy and of thanksgiving.  That is the picture Jesus draws of God.  God is as glad when a lost sinner is found as a shepherd is when a strayed sheep is brought home.  Men may give up hope of reclaiming a sinner, but not so God.  

To err is human, but one requires courage to recognize the error and rise from it. To recognize our mistakes often we need the help of external agents. When David sinned against Uriah, he required the proclamation of Prophet Nathan to realize his mistake. When Israelites sinned they needed the intervention of Moses to make them realize their mistakes.

We can learn from our mistakes only if we are able to admit them. As soon as we start blaming other people we distance ourselves from any possible lesson. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit God called him. Adam put the blame on Eve, and Eve passed it on to the serpent. When Cain was asked, “Where is your brother?” he gave an elusive answer, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” It is our natural tendency to defend us.  But if we courageously stand up and honestly say, “This is my mistake,” there begins the possibility of change. Admission of a mistake, even if privately to oneself, makes a change possible. Realization of one’s own mistakes brings in the mercy of God. The prodigal son had to acknowledge his mistake before he could turn towards his father’s home.  This is what Jesus wants us to have in mind when we find ourselves lost, stuck in our sins, separated from him and from others.  He wants us to see him as our Savior, not as our punisher. Jesus came all the way from heaven to earth in order to rescue his lost sheep.

As forgiven prodigals, we must become forgiving people, for Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  We need to pray for God’s Divine mercy on all of us who have fallen away from God’s grace.  

Before we go to bed at night, let us make it a habit to examine our conscience and confess to God our sins and failures of the day, asking His pardon and forgiveness. Let us resolve to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation if we have fallen into serious sins. As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us pray also for God’s Divine mercy on all of us who have fallen away from God’s grace.  Let us open our eyes to see and ears to hear that Jesus is welcoming us back home!

OT XXIII [C] (Sept 8) Wis 9:13-18b; Phlm 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25–33

St. Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor, when Henry VIII was the King of England. More was a successful lawyer, a great linguist and a renowned spiritual and political writer. His book, Utopia, has become a classic. When he refused to take an oath supporting the Act of Succession, More was imprisoned in the Tower of London in the year 1534. Thomas More could not, with any honesty, approve Henry’s second marriage to Anne, and he could not acknowledge the King as the supreme head of the Church of England. His family implored him – for his sake and theirs – to take the oath. More’s beloved daughter, Margaret, took an oath to persuade him to do so, in order that the family might visit him in prison. With More’s wife and son-in-law, Margaret tried hard, but Thomas refused. He spent fifteen lonely months imprisoned in the Tower of London – in poor health, isolated from the other prisoners, deprived of his beloved books; not even paper and pen were given to him. Thomas More was convicted of treason, sentenced to death and, on July 6th, 1535, he was beheaded. On mounting the scaffold, Thomas More proclaimed that he was “the king’s good servant but God’s first.” St. Thomas More paid the price for his discipleship by loving God more than his wife, children, nay, even his life.

Today’s Gospel reminds us to count the cost of being a Christian because the cost is high. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus lays out four conditions for true Christian discipleship: i) renouncing the attachment to family by putting God first, before other relationships and self-interest; ii) severing the attachment to possessions by leading a detached life, willingly sharing our blessings with others; iii) accepting the hard consequences of discipleship which include offering daily sacrificial service to others and even losing one’s life for them. We must also be faithful in our stewardship, faithful in our worship attendance, faithful in our sexuality, honest in our business practices and we must show compassion for the less fortunate; iv) calculating the cost involved. Using the two parables of the tower-builder and the king defending his country, Jesus says: think long and hard about Christian discipleship before a decision is made.

Why was Jesus, who had been recommending that his followers love everybody –including their enemies–suddenly announcing that no one could be his disciple unless he hated his own family?  The word hate, as used in this case, “is Semitic exaggeration spoken for effect, and may reflect an idiom which means ‘love less than’ (Oxford Bible Commentary). Matthew’s Gospel makes it clear. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.. (Mt 10:37-38).  Jesus is calling us to a commitment above all other commitments, including commitment to family. It involves a spiritual detachment, the ability to put God first, before other relationships and before self-interest. Without such detachment, one does not have the ability truly to follow Jesus. Jesus cannot just be a part of our life but the center.

Being Jesus’ disciple has never been convenient.  It is costly — costly in terms of money, time, relationships, and priorities. Just being an active Church member is not enough.    Jesus doesn’t want disciples who just “go along with the crowd.”    Jesus does not want a large number of “half-way” disciples who are willing to do a “little bit” of prayer, a “little bit” of commitment, a “little bit” of dedication, and a “little bit” of love. Jesus wants disciples who are truly committed to prayer, to discipleship and to being ruled by him as their king.  With a few such dedicated disciples, Jesus could change the world. 

According Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran theologian, martyred by Hitler, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, Baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, and grace without Jesus….Cheap grace costs us nothing (in the short term). Costly grace costs us our life, but it is also the source of the only true and complete life.” “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. “(Martin Luther).

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price for which the believer is willing to sell everything he/she has. Costly grace is the Gospel which must be lived and preached; it is the gift which must be asked for, the door at which every disciple must knock. Costly grace means following Jesus, aware of and prepared for the pitfalls of discipleship but still willing to meet them and manage them daily with his help.

We need to accept the challenge with heroic commitment. Jesus’ challenge of true Christian discipleship can be accepted only if we practice the spirit of detachment and renunciation in our daily lives. 

Let us remember that all this is possible only if we rely on the power of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The challenge of discipleship is very high and we require divine assistance. Mother Teresa said, “If we have our Lord amid us, with daily Mass and Holy Communion, I fear nothing for the Sisters, nor myself; he will look after us. But without him I cannot be; I am helpless” (MFG, p. 26). All he needs is for us to do our sincere best and he'll take care of all the rest. So, let’s pray for his grace to be with us to be better Christians this week.

OT XXIII [C] (Sept 8) Wis 9:13-18b; Phlm 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25–33

St. Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor, when Henry VIII was the King of England. More was a successful lawyer, a great linguist and a renowned spiritual and political writer. His book, Utopia, has become a classic. When he refused to take an oath supporting the Act of Succession, More was imprisoned in the Tower of London in the year 1534. Thomas More could not, with any honesty, approve Henry’s second marriage to Anne, and he could not acknowledge the King as the supreme head of the Church of England. His family implored him – for his sake and theirs – to take the oath. More’s beloved daughter, Margaret, took an oath to persuade him to do so, in order that the family might visit him in prison. With More’s wife and son-in-law, Margaret tried hard, but Thomas refused. He spent fifteen lonely months imprisoned in the Tower of London – in poor health, isolated from the other prisoners, deprived of his beloved books; not even paper and pen were given to him. Thomas More was convicted of treason, sentenced to death and, on July 6th, 1535, he was beheaded. On mounting the scaffold, Thomas More proclaimed that he was “the king’s good servant but God’s first.” St. Thomas More paid the price for his discipleship by loving God more than his wife, children, nay, even his life.

Today’s Gospel reminds us to count the cost of being a Christian because the cost is high. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus lays out four conditions for true Christian discipleship: i) renouncing the attachment to family by putting God first, before other relationships and self-interest; ii) severing the attachment to possessions by leading a detached life, willingly sharing our blessings with others; iii) accepting the hard consequences of discipleship which include offering daily sacrificial service to others and even losing one’s life for them. We must also be faithful in our stewardship, faithful in our worship attendance, faithful in our sexuality, honest in our business practices and we must show compassion for the less fortunate; iv) calculating the cost involved. Using the two parables of the tower-builder and the king defending his country, Jesus says: think long and hard about Christian discipleship before a decision is made.

Why was Jesus, who had been recommending that his followers love everybody –including their enemies–suddenly announcing that no one could be his disciple unless he hated his own family?  The word hate, as used in this case, “is Semitic exaggeration spoken for effect, and may reflect an idiom which means ‘love less than’ (Oxford Bible Commentary). Matthew’s Gospel makes it clear. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.. (Mt 10:37-38).  Jesus is calling us to a commitment above all other commitments, including commitment to family. It involves a spiritual detachment, the ability to put God first, before other relationships and before self-interest. Without such detachment, one does not have the ability truly to follow Jesus. Jesus cannot just be a part of our life but the center.

Being Jesus’ disciple has never been convenient.  It is costly — costly in terms of money, time, relationships, and priorities. Just being an active Church member is not enough.    Jesus doesn’t want disciples who just “go along with the crowd.”    Jesus does not want a large number of “half-way” disciples who are willing to do a “little bit” of prayer, a “little bit” of commitment, a “little bit” of dedication, and a “little bit” of love. Jesus wants disciples who are truly committed to prayer, to discipleship and to being ruled by him as their king.  With a few such dedicated disciples, Jesus could change the world. 

According Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran theologian, martyred by Hitler, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, Baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, and grace without Jesus….Cheap grace costs us nothing (in the short term). Costly grace costs us our life, but it is also the source of the only true and complete life.” “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. “(Martin Luther).

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price for which the believer is willing to sell everything he/she has. Costly grace is the Gospel which must be lived and preached; it is the gift which must be asked for, the door at which every disciple must knock. Costly grace means following Jesus, aware of and prepared for the pitfalls of discipleship but still willing to meet them and manage them daily with his help.

We need to accept the challenge with heroic commitment. Jesus’ challenge of true Christian discipleship can be accepted only if we practice the spirit of detachment and renunciation in our daily lives. 

Let us remember that all this is possible only if we rely on the power of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The challenge of discipleship is very high and we require divine assistance. Mother Teresa said, “If we have our Lord amid us, with daily Mass and Holy Communion, I fear nothing for the Sisters, nor myself; he will look after us. But without him I cannot be; I am helpless” (MFG, p. 26). All he needs is for us to do our sincere best and he'll take care of all the rest. So, let’s pray for his grace to be with us to be better Christians this week.

OT XXI [C] Is 66:18-21, Heb 12:5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30

Venerable Bishop Fulton J. Sheen tells us that we will have three surprises in Heaven. The first surprise: We will be surprised to see that many people we expected to be in Heaven are not there. The second surprise: We will be surprised to see that the people we never expected to be in Heaven are there. The third surprise: We will be surprised to see that we are in Heaven! In today’s Gospel, Jesus answers the question, as to how many will be saved, by answering how to enter into salvation and how urgent it is to strive now, before the Master closes the door. Jesus clearly explains that anyone who follows him through the narrow gate of sacrificial serving and sharing love will be saved. Jesus also admonishes his followers to concentrate on their own salvation instead of worrying about the salvation of others.

When the questioner asked Jesus “How many will be saved?” he was assuming that the salvation of God’s Chosen People was virtually guaranteed, provided they kept the Law. In other words, the Kingdom of God was reserved for the Jews alone, and Gentiles would be shut out.  

Hence, Jesus’ answer must have come as a shock. Jesus affirms that God wants all persons to enjoy eternal life with Him. But he stresses the need for constant fidelity and vigilance throughout our lives. Thus, Jesus reminds us that, even though God wants all of us to be saved, we all need to work at it. Entry into God’s kingdom is not automatically granted, based purely on religious Faith or nationality.

How many will be saved in the end is a decision that rests with God and depends His Justice which includes His Mercy.  Jesus came to bring God’s love and freedom to the whole world. The message of his Gospel is that there is not a single person, people, nation, race, or class, which will be excluded from experiencing the love and liberation that God offers. Hence, the role of the Christian community, from the beginning until now has been, first and foremost, to proclaim to the whole world the Good News of God’s love for the world, and then to show this Good News to be real, reflected in the loving, sharing and serving lives of individual Christians.

Eternal salvation is the result of a struggle: “keep on striving to enter.”It is like the effort one would make in swimming against the current in a river.  A man must ever be going forward or else he will go backward.   We must enter through the “narrow gate” of sacrificial and selfless service.

Entering through the narrow gate denotes a steady obedience to the Lord Jesus — overcoming all opposition and rejecting every temptation.  It is the narrow way of unconditional and unremitting love. Mere faith in Jesus and membership in His Church by Baptism cannot guarantee salvation.  Some of the Fathers of the Church interpreted the narrow door as that small place in the heart where one says “yes” or “no” to what one knows to be true.  It is the one place through which no external force can enter to shape or coerce one’s choices.

“Being saved’ is the end-result – seeing God face to face in Heaven. Jesus explains that Salvation begins with Faith.  But it is also the result of how that Faith is lived.  We cannot “earn” our way into Heaven by good works, but we also believe that we must allow God to work in our lives through His grace, a grace that is reflected in our actions.

Hence, our answer to the question: “Have you been saved?” should be: “I have been saved from the penalty of sin by Christ’s death and Resurrection.  I am being saved from the power of sin by the indwelling Spirit of God.  I have the hope that I shall one day be saved from the very presence of sin when I go to be with God.”  Therefore, the Catholic faith is not like that of some Evangelicals who believe, once you receive baptism in faith you are saved for ever; you cannot lose your salvation.  This is not what the Bible teaches in today’s gospel.

We need to make wise decisions and choose the narrow gate.  God allows us to decide every day what road we will walk down and what gate we will choose.  He encourages us, however, to choose His way:  “Choose life” (Moses – Dt 30:19-20); “There are two paths: one of life and one of death, and the difference between the two is great.”(Didache);   “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” Says Jesus (Lk 9:23).   This means a consistent denial of self and the steady relinquishing of sinful pleasures, pursuits, and interests. 

The “narrow road” or “narrow gate” concerns our everyday—pursuing the Kingdom and God’s justice instead of fame and fortune; and it involves not condemning others. It involves repentance, obedience, humility, righteousness, truth and discipleship.  Hence, let’s strive to enter through the “narrow gate” by prayer and supplication, diligently seeking deliverance from those things which would bar our entrance, and acquiring those things which would facilitate our entry.

OT XX [C] Jer 38:4-6, 8-10; Heb 12:1-4; Lk 12: 49-53

Some time ago a newspaper columnist, Arthur Jones, shared an important moment in his earlier life with his readers. It happened when he was drafted into the Royal Air Force and found himself in military barracks with 30 other men. On the first night he had to make a decision. He had always knelt to say his prayers. Should he continue to kneel now that he was in military service? He squirmed a little and then said to himself: “Why should I change just because people are watching?  Am I going to begin my life away from home by letting other people dictate what I should do or not do?” He decided to kneel. By the time he had finished, he became aware that everyone else was aware of him. And when he made the Sign of the Cross, he was aware that everyone else knew he was a Catholic. As it turned out, he was the only Catholic in the barracks. Yet, night after night he knelt. He said that those ten minutes on his knees often led to discussions that lasted for hours. On the last day in boot camp, someone said to him, “You are the finest Christian I’ve ever met.” He replied, “Well, I might be the most public Christian you’ve ever met, but I don’t think I’m the finest. Still, I thank you for what you said.” – That story illustrates one of the points of today’s Gospel. Commitment to Jesus means taking a stand on certain things. And sometimes that stand sets us in opposition to other people. 

In the First Reading, we heard how Jeremiah was mistreated by the king and his officials for speaking the Word of God. They threw him into a deep, muddy cistern to die for his audacity to preach that the Lord God said that the king had to surrender to the mighty army of Babylonian empire to save Israel.  They considered it a “treason” and punished him.

The message that Jesus brought caused conflict between people who stood for truth and people who resisted it; conflict between people who accepted good and people who sided with evil; conflict between people who cherished love and people who spread hatred. So Jesus spoke to the crowd, "Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! This division was all the more evident in the early Christian community. And this division exists even today. There is the conflict between good and evil. There is the conflict between people who keep the commands of the Lord and people who disregard them. There is the conflict between people who respect the rights of others and the people who ignore them. There is the conflict between the people who keep the precepts of the church and the people who vehemently oppose them.

If no one is ever offended by the quality of our commitment to Christ, that commitment may not be authentic, and if our individual and communal living of the Good News casts no fire and causes no division, then perhaps we are practicing “inoffensive Christianity.”

As Jesus walked the road to Jerusalem, the disciples had to decide whether to go with him or not. To be with or against Jesus is a decision which has the effect of judgment and division. Even though Christ did come to establish peace between God and man, that peace causes a division between those who accept it and those who reject it. In this way he becomes a sign of contradiction, as Simeon who took the baby Jesus in his arms in the temple and foretold: This child will be cause of rise and fall of many, meaning he will bring division.

Christianity tore families in two, because a follower of Christ had to decide which he loved better — his kith and kin or Christ. In Christianity, the loyalty to Christ has to take precedence over the dearest loyalties of this earth. Belief in Jesus and commitment to him cause fires of arguments to erupt between believers and non-believers in the same family or community, resulting in the division of families and conflict in society. Standing up for what is right, working for justice and truth are higher aims than unity, and working for those aims will sometimes cause division. Hence, Christians today may cause division and rouse opposition because they share, through their Baptism, the prophetic charism of speaking God’s word, no matter how unpopular, and of giving a voice to those who have no one to speak for them. Let us remember that Jesus’ sense of justice brought him into conflict with those who exploited the weak and the poor. His integrity invited confrontation with the dishonest and hypocritical leaders, and his love for the poor, for sinners and for the outcast alienated him from the narrow-minded and self-righteous. C.S. Lewis once said that the Gospel was concerned to create “new people” not just “nice people.”

The Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles, writing about the role of prophecy in the modern Church communities in his book, Models of the Church, remarks: “Christianity is not healthy unless there is room in it for prophetic protest against abuses of authority.” God continues to send such prophets to every parish community, and it is the duty of the bishop, pastor and parish council to listen to the well-intended and constructive criticisms of prophets like Jeremiah.

Every day, we are called to make choices, decisions as to which way we will go that day. Sometimes, those decisions are costly, in terms of money, or family, or friendships. If our destination is important to us, we make the correct choice. Not every time, perhaps. But often enough. May God give us wisdom and courage to make those choices in the days ahead. 

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Rv 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; I Cor 15:20-27a; Lk 1:39-56)

The Feast of the Assumption is one of the most important feasts of our Lady.  We believe that when her earthly life was finished, Mary was taken up, body and soul, into Heavenly glory, where the Lord exalted her as Queen of Heaven. (CCC # 966).  It was on November 1, 1950, that Pope Pius XII officially declared the Assumption as a Dogma of Catholic Faith. 

Although the New Testament does not explicitly affirm Mary’s Assumption, it offers a basis for it because it strongly emphasized the Blessed Virgin’s perfect union with Jesus’ destiny. Perfectly united with the life and saving work of Jesus, Mary shares his Heavenly destiny in body and soul.

In AD 325, the Council of Nicaea spoke of the Assumption of Mary. Writing in AD 457, the Bishop of Jerusalem said that when Mary’s tomb was opened, it was "found empty. The apostles judged her body had been taken into Heaven.”  There is a tomb at the foot of the Mt. of Olives where ancient tradition says that Mary was laid.  But there is nothing inside. 

The tradition holds that Blessed Virgin Mary died in Jerusalem (or Ephesus?) and during the last moments of her earthly life all surviving Apostles were present there except St. Thomas, who was then preaching in India. He then was miraculously brought there, and he insisted on seeing the dead body of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But to everyone’s surprise, her tomb was found empty, excepting her clothes.

In his decree on the Dogma of the Assumption, Pope Pius XII gives a couple of theological reasons to support this traditional belief.

The decay of the body after death is the result of original sin.  However, since, through a special intervention of God, Mary was born without original sin, it is not proper that God would permit her body to degenerate in the tomb. In other words, at the first moment of her life, by a very special privilege of God, Mary was preserved free from the stain of sin. At the last moment, by another very special privilege she was preserved free from the corruption of the grave.

Since Mary was given the fullness of grace, Heaven is the proper place for this sinless mother of Jesus. Hence, unlike other saints, Our Lady is in Heaven not only with her soul but also with her glorified body as her Son.

In the first reading, the author of Revelation probably did not have Mary of Nazareth in mind when he described the “woman” in this narrative.  He uses the “woman” as a symbol for the nation and people, Israel.  She is pictured as giving birth, as Israel brought forth the Messiah through its pains. The woman is also symbolic of the Church, and the woman’s offspring represents the way the Church brings Christ into the world.  The dragon represents the world's resistance to Christ and the truths that the Church proclaims.  As Mary is the mother of Christ and of the Church, the passage has indirect reference to Mary.

In the song of Mary, given in today’s Gospel, Mary declares, “the Almighty has done great things for me; Holy is His Name.” Besides honoring her as Jesus’ mother, God has blessed Mary with the gift of bodily Assumption.  God, who has "lifted up" His "lowly servant," Mary, lifts up all the lowly, not only because they are faithful, but also because God is faithful to the promise of Divine mercy.  Mary’s Assumption gives us the assurance and hope of our own resurrection and assumption into Heaven on the day of our Last Judgment.

Since Mary’s Assumption was a reward for her saintly life, this feast reminds us that we, too, must be pure and holy in body and soul, since our bodies will be glorified on the day of our resurrection.  St. Paul tells us that our bodies are the temples of God because the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  He also reminds us that our bodies are members (parts) of the Body of Christ.

Finally, it is always an inspiring thought in our moments of temptation and despair to remember that we have a powerful Heavenly Mother, constantly interceding for us before her Son, Jesus, in Heaven. The Fathers of the Church said: To Jesus through Mary.

St. Maxmillian Kolbe whose feast the Church celebrated yesterday had a great devotion to Mary. He said: Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did. Nobody can love Mary more than Jesus loved, and if we did, that would be idolatry as Mary is not God, but only mother of Jesus the Son of God. Since Jesus is one person, not two, like: one human person and one divine person; but one single person. Mary is the mother of Jesus who is Son of God and son of Man at the same time. Therefore she is the Mother of God, yet, not God. Honoring Mary is honoring Jesus who loved and honored Mary more than anybody in the world. And if we dishonor Mary, it is equal to dishonoring her Son Jesus. No son likes to see his own mother dishonored or disliked by anybody. Therefore, let’s love and honor Mary, Mother of Jesus. Mary leads every believer to her Son Jesus. And she tells everyone to do what Jesus tells. As Kolbe said: Bring every soul to the sacred heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

OT XVII [C]  Gn 18:20-32, Col  2:12-14, Lk 11:1-13

The main themes of today’s readings are the power of intercessory prayer, the Our Father as the ideal prayer, and the necessity for persistence and perseverance in prayer, with trusting faith and boldness.

The first reading, taken from the book of Genesis, gives us the model for intercessory prayer provided by Abraham in his dialogue with God. Although Abraham seems to be trying to manipulate God through his skillful bargaining and humble, persistent intercession, God is actually being moved to mercy by the goodness of a few innocent souls. 

Abraham assumes that it is unjust of God to “treat the innocent and guilty alike.” Yet we all know of cases where God appears to do so.  Jesus himself tells us that God “sends rain on the just and unjust,” and furthermore, that people who die in natural disasters are not necessarily more wicked than those who survive (Luke 13:4).  The fact is that often in this life we do not see obvious differences in the fate of the wicked and righteous (Ps 73).  The “moral logic” of God and the universe only holds if there is an afterlife.  Without faith in the life to come, it is not possible to justify the ways of God on earth.  Belief in a final judgment and an afterlife is a courageous affirmation of the moral justice of God and therefore of all reality.  

One thing that is sometimes overlooked in today’s gospel story of the man persistently asking his neighbor to give some bread for feeding his hungry guest, is that this, like the story of Abraham bargaining with God for the lives of Lot and his family, is primarily a story about intercessory prayer. One friend goes to another friend on behalf of someone else. Intercessory prayers express our concern for others and make us less self-centered. In the Mass we always pray for others in the general intercession after listening to the word of God and confessing our Creed. In our parish we often get prayer line calls. It is not just to let us know that someone is sick or in the hospital, but it is a request to pray for them. Jesus said: when two or more pray together that has greater power before the Father.

Bishop Sheen says that “The man who thinks only of himself says prayers of petition. He who thinks of his neighbor says prayers of intercession.

One may ask, if God is so generous a Father, why does He insist on our persistence in prayer.  Why not give everything immediately?  Or better, why make us ask at all?  Why not give us everything we want and need without our asking?

Dr. Stump points out that parents who give their children everything they ask for end up spoiling them; but on the other hand, parents who always say “no” estrange their children from themselves.  God is a good parent, and the dialogue of prayer actually fosters relationship between God and his children, in which God permits the participation of his children into his providential guidance of the universe.  God is neither a “sugar daddy” nor a “scrooge,” but a Father who encourages us to make our needs and desires known, always trusting in His goodness. 

The purpose of prayer is to be in harmony with God, to have a sense of God’s presence; to feel the assurance that God is in, around and greater than any circumstance; that, come what may, we belong to Him.

A colleague asked C.S. Lewis if he really thought he could change God with his prayer for the cure of his wife’s cancer. Lewis replied: “Prayer doesn’t change God; it changes me.” William McGill summed it up this way. “The value of persistent prayer is not that God will hear us but that we will finally hear God.”

Pastor Tom Rietveld tells an interesting true story about prayer. He says that when he was pastoring in Missouri his church needed approximately $10,000 beyond what they were able to give to close out the year. And so, Pastor Rietveld asked the church family and their church leaders to pray for that amount, specifically—$10,000.  Unexpectantly, a few weeks before the end of the year, a gift came in the mail. It was for several shares of stock worth $5,000. Pastor Rietveld put out the word that God had supplied half of what they needed, and they now needed to pray for $5,000 more to meet their need.

Their church board was to meet the next week regarding the gift of the stock as they were the only ones who could give approval to sell the stock. But a snow storm hit, and snowed them all in, and delayed their meeting for a week. When they finally met they approved the sale of the stock. So the next day Pastor Tom went to a broker to sell the stock. But in the meantime, says Pastor Tom, God did His work. During the delay from when they were given the stock and when they finally could sell the stock, it had doubled in value, and was worth $10,000. Says Pastor Tom, “God had specifically taken care of the specific need we brought to Him.”

The best gift of all is God’s gift of Himself through his Spirit.  This is what we have received in baptism, and we continue to receive through the sacraments.  St. James urges us not to waste prayers on material acquisitions for the sake of our pleasure; instead, let’s focus our prayers at this Mass on a greater reception of the Spirit, the best gift God can give us.

OT XIII [C]: I Kgs 19:16b, 19-21; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Lk 9:51-62

Abraham Lincoln was the finest and most spiritual of all the American presidents. During the Civil War, Lincoln was often criticized for not being severe enough on the soldiers of the South.  On one occasion after a battle, a general from the North asked him, “Why didn’t you destroy the enemy when you had the chance? President Lincoln answered with words adapted from today’s Gospel passage: “Do I not destroy my enemy by making him my friend?” That is exactly what Jesus tells   us in today’s Gospel: destroy our enemies by making them our friends. No doubt the feelings of anger and resentment run deep in many hearts today, and we wouldn’t mind if people who hurt us deeply were punished or suffered from bad luck.

This Gospel passage deals with the beginning of Jesus’ journey from the northern towns of Galilee to the southern city of Jerusalem through the land of Samaria. Jesus encountered obstacles from the Samaritans. The Jews and Samaritans shared a common origin in the twelve tribes of Israel. But they hated each other and refused to intermingle or intermarry because of a long-standing historic conflict between the two nations dating back to the eighth century BC, after the Assyrian conquest of the Jews. Even under Assyrian rule, the Samaritans claimed to have maintained proper worship in their land with Mount Gerizim as the center of their religious life.  They argued that the Jews were the ones who had compromised their religious beliefs during their Babylonian exile. The Jews, on the other hand, with the Temple of Jerusalem as the center of their religious life, accused Samaritans of having lost their religious and racial identity through intermarriage with their pagan neighbors.  They even considered Samaritans as heretical and false worshipers of the God of Israel and detested them far more than they detested the pagans. To get to Jerusalem, Galileans had either to go through Samaria or to take a longer, more difficult route east of the Jordan River.  Jesus chose the shortcut through Samaria. But the Samaritans both refused to honor Jesus as a prophet and violated the sacred duties of hospitality. This infuriated the apostles and two of them, James and John, asked Jesus if he wanted them to command fire to come down from Heaven and consume the Samaritans as Elijah had done in his day (II Kings 1:9-12).  Jesus rebuked them, however, because he was not a destroyer but a Savior with a message of mercy and love.

Jesus' choice to go through the villages of Samaria looking for hospitality tells us that he was extending a hand of friendship to enemies. Tolerance: It is a hard lesson, one that took the disciples years to learn. But, the virtue of tolerance, and tolerance for the right cause, needs to be taught in the church. Tolerance is “showing respect for others who are different than us”. It is giving to every other human being every right that we claim for ourselves.

There are two times in particular when tolerance is very important—one is looking past character flaws and bearing with those who irritate us, the other is being respectful and understanding of the differences between people. Tolerance towards others can be difficult. Sometimes it means being kind and respectful to the people who are really irritating. Being tolerant does not mean you must accept disrespectful or bad attitudes.

Taking advantage of the spread of “political correctness”, intolerant society groups have moved into an aggressive attack. We are going through very intolerant times in society, not just in one country, but I feel all over the world. It will eventually bring to an end our human civilization.

Religion and politics are the two areas of greatest intolerance happening in this world right now. Just last week a young Muslim in India was battered to death for being a Muslim I believe and made him recite the names of Hindu gods during the 5 hour battery on him.

Religious tolerance means that you favor extending religious freedom to people of all faith traditions, even though you probably disagree the validity of their beliefs and practices. Christianity is the religion that takes greatest intolerance from all other religions. Because the message of Christ is universal or Catholic. Catholic means, applicable to all men at all times. It is true in an absolute sense. Obviously then, only one can be universal. All other religions are limited either to one race, language or nation. Jewish religion was limited to one nation. Hinduism is limited to caste system and one has to be born a Brahmin before he/she can finally attain liberation. And caste system is prevalent only in India. Islam, though claiming to be universal is limited to people who can speak Arabic, because one has to know Arabic to understand the words of Allah. One has to pray in Arabic. Quran is not considered holy if it is printed in any other language. Bible, on the contrary was written in more than one language even in the original source and there are no languages now in which Bible is not translated. Bible is Holy irrespective of the language it is printed.  Therefore, Catholics profess in their creed: I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.

The truth and divine origin of Christianity have been made to depend on its supernatural character, and to stand or fall with a certain view of miracles. No other religion has miracles to authenticate their genuineness of the message, except Christianity. Therefore Christianity makes exclusive claims which are hurting other religions to spread and that is one of the reasons the truth of Christianity is always under attack. Most of the social or political issues like abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriages, cohabitation and so on, are hot button issues for the Church. The Church cannot go against truths revealed in the Bible. Then it will not be Catholic any more. Truth is truth for all human beings, not for people in just one country. Tolerance does not mean we keep quiet about these issues because it is going to hurt others’ sensitivity. You are not expected to be vitriolic in expressing your dissent. If you know the right thing and if you are keeping quiet just because it would hurt others’ feelings, you are not a true Christian. One of the spiritual works of mercy is to correct the wrong person patiently. Teach the ignorant. If we keep quiet, it will not probably help people with wrong notion about those issues. Tolerance means not to hate a person on the ground of his or her belief in a particular thing. It is willingness to work with a person of differing opinion or stand. This is what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples in today’s gospel. He did not favor his disciples’ retaliatory attitude. He won the Samaritans over by his tolerance and forgiveness. Therefore the Samaritans were one of the first groups who became Christians en masse soon after Jesus’ resurrection. Let’s learn and practice the attitude of tolerance and forgiveness otherwise we cannot be called Christians.

HOLY TRINITY [C]: Prv 8:22-31; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16:12-15

The mystery of the Holy Trinity, a doctrine enunciated by the ecumenical councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, is one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and the greatest mystery of our Faith, namely, that there are Three Divine Persons, sharing the same Divine nature in one God.   

Richard of St. Victor said: Three are the perfection of Charity. God has to be a trinity. For God to be good, God has to be one. For God, to be loving, God has to be two, because love is always a relationship. For God to be Supreme joy and happiness, God has to be three. Lovers do not know full happiness until they both delight in the same thing, like new parents with the ecstasy of their first Child. If God is only one person, in the pre-state of the creation of the world, God would have been a very lonely person. He would have been craving to love someone outside of Himself. That would show a deficiency in God. But as it is revealed to us, since God is three persons in One God, He was not a person longing to be loved to fulfill His need for love.

Augustine wrote: “You see the Trinity if you see love.”  According to him, the Father is the lover, the Son is the loved one and the Holy Spirit is the personification of the very act of loving. This means that we can understand something of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity more readily with the heart than with our feeble mind.

Three Persons in one God, equal in Divinity yet distinct in Person, is not explicitly spelt out in the Bible. Even the very word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. But the doctrine of the Trinity underlies all major Christian feasts. All the official prayers of the Church, including the Holy Mass and the Sacraments, begin with an address to the Holy Trinity. We are baptized, absolved of our sins and anointed in the name of the Blessed Trinity.

The Book of Proverbs reflects on Wisdom, a quality which that book identifies with God. St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, teaches us that we have peace with God the Father through Jesus Christ, and that the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. 

God has revealed to us three separate functions that are carried out by the Three Persons.  He has told us that it is proper to attribute to God the Father the work of Creation, to God the Son the work of Redemption and to God the Holy Spirit the work of Sanctification.  Since Yahweh, the God of Israel, was careful to protect His Chosen People from the pagan practice of worshipping many gods, the Old Testament books give only indirect and passing references to the Trinity, and the Jewish rabbis never understood them as references to the Holy Trinity.    Genesis 1:26 presents God speaking to Himself:  “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”    Genesis 18:2 describes how Yahweh visited Abraham under the appearance of three men, an event that the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates as the “Trinitarian Experience of Abraham.” In Genesis 11:7, before punishing the proud builders of the Tower of Babel, God says, “Come, let Us go down among them and confuse their language. “These passages imply, rather than state, the doctrine of the Trinity.

Our conviction of the presence of the Triune God within us should help us to esteem ourselves as God’s holy dwelling place, to behave well in His holy presence, and to lead purer and holier lives, practicing acts of justice and charity.  This Triune Presence should also encourage us to respect and honor others as “Temples of the Holy Spirit.”

We are created in love to be a community of loving persons, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in love. We belong to the Family of the Triune God.  The love, unity and joy in the relationship among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families.  Our families become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and with others.

We are made in God’s image and likeness.  Just as God is God only in a Trinitarian relationship, so we can be fully human only as one member of a relationship of three partners.  The self needs to be in a horizontal relationship with all other people and in a vertical relationship with God.  In that way, our life becomes Trinitarian like that of God. 

Like God the Father, we are called upon to be productive and creative persons by contributing to the building up of the fabric of our family, our Church, our community and our nation.  Like God the Son, we are called upon to reconcile, to be peacemakers, to put back together that which has been broken, to restore what has been shattered.  Like God the Holy Spirit, it is our task to uncover and teach truth and to dispel ignorance. 

The celebration of the mystery of Holy Trinity reminds us that we have to grow in unity   like the perfect Unity that exists in Trinity. The greatest hindrance to unity is selfishness (Phil 2:4). When we strive to overcome our selfishness we will be able to contribute positively to strengthen our relation with the trinity and others.

May God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit shower their blessings on us and help us to strengthen our bond of unity.