Mary, Mother of God - Jan-1

Today is the octave day of the Nativity of the Lord; Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.

Message: We seek God’s blessings as did Mary.  Because of her Son, we can confidently call God, “Abba”.

Since we celebrate the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God on New Year’s Day, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy and Peaceful New Year?  I pray that the Lord Jesus and His mother Mary may enrich your lives during the New Year with an abundance of God’s blessings.  Today’s Feast of Mary, the Mother of God is a very appropriate way to begin a new year, reminding us to rely on the powerful intercession of our Heavenly Mother. The Church observes this day also as the World Day of Peace and invites us to pray specially for lasting peace in the world throughout the New Year.

Today’s Gospel describes how the shepherds spread to all their neighbors the Good News surrounding the birth of Jesus which the angel had revealed to them, and how Mary treasured "all these things" in her heart. 

Let us make the New Year meaningful by trying to be pure and holy like our Heavenly Mother.    Happy New Year

Holy Family: [B]: Sira3:2-6,12-14,Colo3:12-21, Lk 2: 22-40

Holy Family: [B]: Sira3:2-6,12-14,Colo3:12-21, Lk 2: 22-40

Introduction:  Two thirds of United States families do not eat their meals together. Of the third who do, 50% are watching TV during the meal. The average child over 8 watches three and a half hours of TV daily, largely because the tired parents use the TV as a baby sitter at the end of a long day. (Economic Policy Institute) "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed on the world." When poet WB Yeats wrote these lines, he might have been speaking of contemporary family life. The Feast of the Holy Family is not as old as one might think. Its origins are found only in the seventeenth century.

Exegesis:  Family life today is a most difficult pursuit. One thinks of divorce, the scourge of alcohol and narcotics, the breakdown of discipline, and all the rest of the unhappy lot. We should pay attention to St Paul's letter to the Colossians in Asia Minor. Apparently word had reached Paul that Christian families in Colossae were falling apart. And so he notes the qualities that must be in a Christian home. Sit back and allow Paul's magnificent words to seep into your spirit. "Bear with one another. Forgive one another... Over all these put on love...Christ's peace must reign in your hearts...Be thankful. Wives, cherish your husbands. Husbands, love your wives. Children, obey your parents in everything." What a home it would be were one to find all the qualities Paul enumerates! They would be Hall of Fame material. People would fight to visit and just hope the family magic would rub off on them and their families. Why not allow it to be your home?

Today’s Gospel describes how Joseph presented Mary and the Child Jesus in the Temple for the ritual of the mother's purification and the child's "presentation." 

Practical Applications: "The lawyer is two, and the doctor is four," the grandma replied. We all have great ideals for our children. It is not that they need to become a lawyer or doctor to make us happy, but we do want them to grow up into the finest people they can be, using their potential, being happy in their lives. If this is what we really want for our children, then like Joseph and Mary in the Temple, we must dedicate our treasures to the Lord. For our children to fulfill their potential they must find the reflection of God they were created to bring into the world. Children must find the Lord not just in the Temple or the Church, they must find the Lord primarily in their families. This is the Feast of the Holy Family.  It is a day when we consider the spiritual life of our families. We ask ourselves today, "Can all the members of our family find the Lord in our homes?

Introduction: The feast of the Holy Family

Message: Family life is rooted in the unconditional love of God as witnessed by the Holy Family.  Mindful of his covenant, God blesses the faith of Abraham and Sarah in their son, Isaac.  The child Jesus and his parents are blessed by Simeon.

Saints and Events in this Week: 29 – Twenty Ninth – Monday – Fifth day within the Octave of the Nativity of the lord; Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop, Martyr; 30 – Thirtieth – Tuesday – Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord; 31 – Thirty First – Wednesday – Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord; Saint Sylvester First, Pope; First of January 2015 - Thursday – The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord: Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God, Holy Day of Obligation(USA); 2 – Second – Friday – Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Doctors of the Church; 3 – Third – Saturday – The Most Holy Name of Jesus; 

Christmas – 2014 – Merry Chirstmas

Christmas – 2014 – Merry Chirstmas

Joke: Mark Twain refers to it in one of his books. He recalls a visit to the Holy Land and a stay in Capernaum. It was a moonlit night, so he decided to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would charge to take them out on the water. The man saw Twain's white suit, white shoes and white hat and supposed he was a rich Texan. So he said the cost would be twenty-five dollars. Twain walked away as he said, "Now I know why Jesus walked."

Exegesis:  Christmas is finally here. All four weeks of Advent we have been waiting and praying for the coming blessings of Christmas. And now Christmas is here. Today the angels are bringing us the good news of great joy for all the people, for to us is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. This good news of great joy is for all the people of God. As people of God we have a claim to the joy and the peace that the birth of Christ brings to the world. But how do I personally enter into this "great joy" of Christmas? Christmas rings out "joy to the world," yes, but how do I make this joy my own? This is an important question, for, even though God has declared joy to the whole world, there are still many among us who do not flow in this joy, many among us who do not know how to claim this joy and make it their own personally.

Practical:  We are thinking about Santa bringing gifts for Christmas but forget Jesus to be welcomed. We arrange Christmas trees with light and decorations, but for get to incorporate St. Joseph, Holy Mary and infant Jesus.  Of course, Jesus is light of the world. We use red colors of Santa but forget the angelic color of white. Are we thinking about gifts for us by Santa instead of thinking about gift for Jesus like the three magi did?   Gifts make us happy, but never forget the cause of that happiness, Child Jesus.

I wish all of you a wonderful and fun filled celebration of this joyful season. Therefore: “Sing psalms to the Lord with harp, with the sound of music, with trumpets and the sound of the horn, acclaim the King, the Lord” who is with us. Merry Christmas!

Christmas - Homily - 2011

Christmas Homily :                                                                                               Joke 1) It was Christmas Eve in a supermarket and a woman was anxiously picking over the last few remaining turkeys in the hope of finding a large one. In desperation she called over a shop assistant and said "Excuse me. Do these turkeys get any bigger?" "No" he replied, "They're all dead".

Anecdote: 1) When Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in A.D. 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today? In 1223 when St. Francis of Assisi used a nearby cave and set up a manger filled with straw and his friend, Vellita, brought in an ox and a donkey, as in the Bethlehem original, nobody imagined how that novel idea was going to evolve through centuries. When Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in America in 1832, who would have ever thought that the decorations would become as elaborate as they are today? There is an unproved legend that Martin Luther is responsible for the first Christmas tree. This story says that one Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through the snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of the trees in the snow. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he got home, he set up a small fir tree and shared the story with his children. He decorated the Christmas tree with small candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth. For us, each yearly approach of December 25 gives us one more opportunity to pause, and in the midst of all the commercialized excitement, elaborate decorations and expensive gifts which mark Christmas in our day, to consider again the event of Christmas and the Person Whose birth we celebrate.

Joke 2) ) Mark Twain refers to it in one of his books. He recalls a visit to the Holy Land and a stay in Capernaum. It was a moonlit night, so he decided to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would charge to take them out on the water. The man saw Twain's white suit, white shoes and white hat and supposed he was a rich Texan. So he said the cost would be twenty-five dollars. Twain walked away as he said, "Now I know why Jesus walked."

Event 1) A certain missionary was working in a rural African village that had no easy access to good drinking water. People walked for miles to the nearest river to get water. With his encouragement the people undertook a self-help project to sink a borehole. The local government supplemented the people's efforts and a borehole was sunk in the village. In the meantime the missionary had left the village. Soon the village was enjoying fresh and clean drinking water from the borehole. So they wrote the missionary to come and see them and the great difference the borehole had made in the village. He went back to the village and rejoiced with them for the borehole that now gave fresh, clean water on demand. Then he decided to go round and visit some of his old friends. He entered the house of an old woman and asked her to give me a cup of the borehole water to drink. To his surprise she said that there was no drinking water in the house. "But the village now has water," he said. "Yes," she replied, "but the trouble is with my grandson who lives with me. I tell him to go and get water from the borehole and he wouldn't listen to me. All he does is run about and play."

There you are! You see, it is possible for someone to die of thirst in a village that has abundant drinking water. Why? Because there is no way the water out there in the borehole can become your own personally until you lift your foot to go there and draw the water that already belongs to you. The water in the borehole is yours by right. You are entitled to it. But you need to do something to claim this right before it can become your own personally, before it can actually quench your thirst. So is the good news of great joy that God showers on the world at Christmas. We still need to do something, make a little effort, before we can personally experience this joy in our lives, in our families, and in our world.

How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I'll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that it is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before You. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly, we need to try to please others before trying to please yourself. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can convert the Christmas "joy to the world" into a personal "joy in my life" now and always.

As we listen to the Christmas story we would do well to pay attention to the various people and groups of people that are mentioned and see whether they try to please Jesus and others before themselves, or whether they seek their own interests first. You will discover that those who practice J-O-Y are the ones who enjoy peace and joy, and that those who practice "self first" are always the unhappy and miserable ones. Here are a few examples.

Joke 3) A friend was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands. He noticed a young man who showed up in the church for Christmas and Easter as Poinsettias & Easter Lilies do.  He grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him aside. Pastor said, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!" My friend said, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor." Pastor questioned, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?" He whispered back, "I'm in the Secret Service."

On the negative side we have the innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary out in the cold night while he enjoyed the warmth of the inn. There's also Herod who wanted above all his job security as king to the point that he was prepared to kill Jesus and others. These people never get to experience the joy of the good news. On the positive side, consider the shepherds who leave everything they own, their flock, in the bush and go to adore Jesus first. Or the magi, the wise men from the East who leave the security of their homeland and make a long and dangerous journey to Bethlehem just to worship the new-born Jesus and give him gifts. These are the one's who receive God's favour, the ones who experience in their hearts the true peace and joy of Christmas. Let us today resolve to follow their good example by always placing Jesus and others before self and then the joy of Christmas will always be ours.

IV Sunday-Advent:[B]:IISam7:1-5,8-12,14-16;Rom16:25-27;Lk1:26-38

IV Sunday-Advent:[B]:IISam7:1-5,8-12,14-16;Rom16:25-27;Lk1:26-38

Introduction: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." (Lk 1:28) For nearly two millennia Catholics, and other Christians, have committed to memory these words of the angel Gabriel, "Ave Maria, gratia plena", as they pore devotedly over the sacred scriptures. The angelic salutation, now incorporated into the prayer of the Hail Mary, is sent up to heaven millions of times each day from every corner of the globe. Our frequent repetition of these words makes a sense of awe for the fantastic event which they announced: the incarnation of God.  Today is the 4th and the last Sunday of Advent before Christmas and we are in the immediate preparations for Christmas. 

Exegesis: The Scripture Readings of today speak about the preparations that God made for his Son to be born among us and as one of us. In the First Reading from the 2^nd Book of Samuel, King David wishes to build a house for God better than his own. He seeks some way to give thanks to God for all the blessing he received from him. But God has not finished filling his life with blessings. In the Second Reading from his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul speaks about the mystery of salvation about to be revealed and marvels at the divine plan and gives glory to God. In the Gospel Reading from St. Luke, we have the familiar passage of the Annunciation where the Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she has found favor with God and announces the divine identity of the child whom Mary is about to conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Event: There is a Persian legend.  A certain king needed a faithful servant, and two men were candidates for the office. He took both at fixed wages, and his first order was to fill a basket with water from a neighboring well.  And the King said that he would come in the evening and see their work. After putting in one or two bucketfuls, one man said, “What is the good of doing this useless work? As soon as we put the water in one side it runs out the other.” The other answered, “But we have our wages, haven't we? The use is the master's business, not ours.” “I am not going to do such fool's work,” replied the other. Throwing down his bucket, he went away. The other man continued until he had exhausted. Looking down to the well he saw something shining—a diamond ring. “Now I see the use of pouring water into a basket,” he cried. “If the bucket had brought up the ring before the well was emptied, it would have been found in the basket. Our work was not useless.” Christians must believe that their divine Master knows what is best, and obey his commands, and in due time they will know and understand.

Practical Applications: We need to say a courageous and generous “Yes” to God as Mary did.  True obedience comes from a free choice made in the light of what is true and good. It often requires a great deal of courage, because it can involve going against the tide of social expectations. True obedience also aims at putting oneself at the service of something/Someone that is greater than oneself by accepting what God clearly wants us to do or what He wants to do through us. Jesus' own moment of greatness, like his Mother’s, came when he said “Yes,” to his Father, and Jesus' own obedience is our model. Will we surrender to God and allow God to do what, from our human point of view, seems impossible?  Will we surrender our agenda, our will and our kingdom to God and allow God’s agenda, will and Kingdom become a reality for and through us?  It is by saying, with Jesus and Mary, a  wholehearted  and  totally  unconditional  “Yes,”  to  God  that Jesus will be re-born in me or maybe even born in me for the first time. By my saying “yes,” Jesus will be born or reborn in others too.

Fourth Sunday in Advent: Introduction

Message: David’s posterity shall endure forever.  His kingship finds its fulfillment in the son of Mary, Jesus the Christ.  To him be glory and praise forever.

Saints and Events in this Week: 23 – Twenty Third – Tuesday – Saint John of Kanty, Priest; 24 – Twenty Fourth – Wednesday - Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord; 25 – Twenty Fifth – Thursday – The nativity of the Lord – Christmas – Holy day of obligation; 26 – Twenty Sixth – Friday – Saint Stephen, the first martyr; 27 – Twenty Seventh – Saturday – Saint John, Apostle, Evangelist;

Fourth Sunday: 2 Sam 7: 1-5,8-12,14,16, Romans 16: 25-27, Luke 1: 26-38

Fourth Sunday: 2 Sam 7: 1-5,8-12,14,16, Romans 16: 25-27, Luke 1: 26-38 - Mothers of Christ

Some nursery school kids were preparing a Christmas play. Little Cynthia did not like the part she was assigned to play. She wanted to change parts with her friend Monica. When the teacher asked her why, she answered, "Because it is easier to be an angel than to be the mother of Christ." The little girl is certainly right. To be the mother of Christ is no light matter. Yet difficult as it sounds, that is exactly what we are all called to be. In fact, we could say that even though Jesus was born in Bethlehem, his real desire is to be born in the hearts of believers, to be re-produced by believers.

Mother of Christ is a title we usually reserve for Mary. But Mary is mother of Christ in two senses. She is mother of Christ in the physical sense that she carried Jesus in her womb and gave birth to him. This is an unrepeatable event and an honour that no other human being could share with her. But she is also mother of Christ in a spiritual sense. In a spiritual sense the role of being mother of Christ is available to all Christians. We all, men, women and children, can and should become mothers of Christ. The idea of Christians called to be mothers of Christ is very common among Christian mystics. The Dominican priest mystic, Meister Eckhart, said that God made the human soul for her to bear the divine Son, and that when this birth happens it gives God greater pleasure than the creation of heaven and earth.

What is this spiritual motherhood of Christ and how does it happen? For the answer we need to go right back to Jesus himself.

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." 33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:31-35)

This shows that (a) Jesus expects his followers to be not only his brothers and sisters but his mothers as well, and (b) the way to be the mother of Jesus is by doing the will of God. Spiritual motherhood of Christ is attained by saying yes to God, even when God appears to demand from us what is humanly impossible, like asking Mary to be a virgin mother. To become mothers of Christ we need to make the prayer of Mary our own: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

This prayer of Mary has been know as the world's greatest prayer. It is the prayer that brought God down from heaven to dwell in the soul and body of a lowly young woman. It is the prayer that brought about the greatest event in human history, God becoming human in Jesus. It is a prayer that changed forever the course of human history some 2000 years ago. This prayer is so very different from what has been called the world's most common prayer, the prayer in which we try to get God to do our will. The world's most common prayer says, "My will be done," whereas the world greatest prayer says, "Thy will be done."

Yes, little Cynthia was right. It is not easy to be the mother of Christ. But in today's gospel Mary shows us how. It is in hearing God's word and saying yes to God even when God's will seems to go against all our plans and hopes for the future. As Christmas draws near, Mary reminds us that the best Christmas, in fact the only true Christmas, is that Christ be born not in the little town of Bethlehem but in the inner sanctuary of our hearts.

III Sunday of Advent: Is 61: 1-2, 10-11; 1 Thes 5: 16-24; Jn 1: 6-8, 19-28

III Sunday -Advent: Is 61: 1-2, 10-11; 1 Thes 5: 16-24; Jn 1: 6-8, 19-28

Introduction: Today is third Sunday during advent. While the first two Sundays of the Advent Season draw our attention to the eschatological coming of the Lord, the third Sunday focuses our attention much more on the Lord already present among us. This Sunday is known as 'Gaudete (Rejoice!) Sunday'.  The Mass formularies today still retain the call to 'rejoice', and the source and cause of that rejoicing is clearly the presence of God in our midst. Our joy gets more and more intense as we advance in our journey of faith. And so, we light the rose colored candle, the 3^rd in the series in the Advent wreath, and use rose vestments symbolizing our hope and our joy as we await the coming of our Savior at Christmas. We rejoice because the day of salvation is near.

Story: Father Ernest gives a beautiful story. A certain monastery discovered that it was going through a crisis. Some of the monks left, no new candidates joined them, and people were no longer coming for prayer and consultation as they used to. The few monks that remained were becoming old and depressed and bitter in their relationship with one another. The abbot heard about a holy man, a hermit living alone in the woods and decided to consult him. He told the hermit how the monastery had dwindled and diminished and now looks like a skeleton of what it used to be. Only seven old monks remained. The hermit told the abbot that he has a secret for him. One of the monks now living in his monastery is actually the Messiah, but he is living in such a way that no one could recognize him.

With this revelation the abbot goes back to his monastery, summons a community meeting and recounts what the holy hermit told him. The aging monks look at each other in unbelief, trying to discern who among them could be the Christ. Could it be Brother Mark who prays all the time? But he has this holier-than-thou attitude toward others. Could it be Bother Joseph who is always ready to help? But he is always eating and drinking and cannot fast. The abbot reminded them that the Messiah has adopted some bad habits as a way of camouflaging his real identity. This only made them more confused and they could not make a headway figuring out who was the Christ among them. At the end of the meeting what each one of the monks knew for sure was that any of the monks, excepting himself, could be the Christ.

From that day, however, the monks began to treat one another with greater respect and humility, knowing that the person they are speaking to could be the very Christ. They began to show more love for one another, their common life became more brotherly and their common prayer more fervent. Slowly people began to take notice of the new spirit in the monastery and began coming back for retreats and spiritual direction. Word began to spread and, before you know it, candidates began to show up and the monastery began to grow again in number as the monks grew in zeal and holiness. All this because a man of God drew their attention to the truth that Christ was living in their midst as one of them.

Exegesis: In today’s gospel John the Baptist tries to announce the same powerful message to the Jews of his time who were anxiously waiting for the coming of the Messiah. John tells them: “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal” (John 1:26-27).

Practical Applications: Are we now better able to recognize Christ in the persons of the ordinary men and women in our midst together with their unimpressive attitudes, habits and appearances?

Introduction:  Third Sunday of Advent

Message: John witnesses to one who is to come, one far mightier than he, one who will proclaim freedom and deliverance from sin and death.  As we await his coming again in glory, let us join with Mary in singing the praises of God.