XI Sunday in OT :[2012]: Eze 17:22-24, 2Cori 5:6-10; Mk 4:26-34

XI Sunday in OT : Eze 17:22-24, 2Cori 5:6-10; Mk 4:26-34

Do you know what happened to the tiny seed Rita Rizzo planted? You probably don't recognize the name, Rita Antoinette Rizzo. Rita was born on April 20, 1923. She had a rough childhood which she spent mostly in poverty. When she was a young woman Rita decided to become a nun. At 21 she entered the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, a Franciscan religious order for women. She believed that God was calling her into television ministry. At the time she didn't know anything about television except how to turn one on. But she prayed about it and decided to go ahead with the project, believing that everything would fall into place. With only two hundred dollars and a handful of other sisters, she became the only woman in religious broadcasting to own a network. She went on to found a new house for the order in 1962 in Irondale, Alabama, where the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), is headquartered. In 1996 she initiated the building of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of the Angels monastery in Hanceville, Alabama. Today this sister, Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, is seen by millions of people on her prerecorded twice weekly program, "Mother Angelica Live." Her network, EWTN, is available 24 hours a day everywhere in the world. Whoever would have thought that from such a tiny seed would develop such a large shrub? That is the way the kingdom of God works.

Today's readings are about the birth and growth of the reign or rule of God (Kingdom of God), in human lives and about the gigantic growth of the Church from very humble beginnings. Both growths are slow and mysterious, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The first reading, taken from Ezekiel 17:22-24, is a messianic prophecy. The prophet tells us how the Lord God of Israel will allow a descendant of King David to become the Messiah and savior of the world.  In contrast with the parable of tiny the mustard   seed   in   today's   gospel,   Ezekiel   sees   the   Messiah    originating in a royal family (lofty Cedar, David). In the second reading, St. Paul teaches the Corinthian Christians that they are to please God by doing His will (thus advancing the growth of God's kingdom and His rule in their lives), so that they may be amply rewarded in the final judgment. In today's gospel, Jesus compares the growth of the kingdom of God to the germination of a wheat seed and that of a tiny mustard seed. Both have very small beginnings. The wheat seeds, by gradual but steady growth help the farmer to get a bumper crop. In the same way, the life principle in a tiny mustard seed enables it to grow into a large bush. The reign of God in human hearts and the growth of the Church in the world also have small beginnings. But the Source of all life, God the Holy Spirit, gives to both a steady, persistent and gigantic growth. Jesus' use of a mustard plant instead of a great cedar continues the image of humble beginnings for the great power that is to come.  Mark’s community would have recognized the mustard plant as appropriate for Jesus' own earthly ministry.   The Messiah came as an itinerant teacher/rabbi who gathered a few ordinary people to be his disciples. Jesus' incarnational presence was like that of a mustard plant, not an imposing cedar. He was not a Messiah of towering strength with great political, financial and military power.  Yet the  divinely ordained growth of that small beginning resulted in the same kind of exponential growth and presence — inviting all the "birds of the air" to make their nests within its branches.

The Kingdom of God is the growth of God's rule in human hearts that occurs when man does the will of God and surrenders his life to God. The seed of faith lies dormant within each of us. When we permit the Holy Spirit to nurture it, it grows miraculously into gigantic proportions. The growth is slow and microscopic in the beginning. But this seed grows by using the power of the Holy Spirit, given to us through the word of God, the Mass, the sacraments and prayers. As we learn God's will from His words and try to put these words into practice, we participate in the growth of God's kingdom on earth which will be completed in our heavenly life.

We can all plant tiny seeds in the form of words of love and encouragement,   acts of charity,   mercy and forgiveness.  The Holy Spirit will touch the hearts of the recipients of these seeds sown by us and will effect growth of the kingdom in their souls and lives. As the apostle Paul once said of his ministry, "Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only god who gives the growth” (Corinthians 3:7).

One morning Johnny told his mother "Mom, I am not happy in this house, Dad never smiles, I can't make him happy. He seems like a monster to me. The only thing that is important to him are rules and duties. I don't know how you have put up with him all these years? Rita being a loving woman of faith was sad to hear these words from her son. In the evening as Johnny entered the house he heard his parents talking, his mother Rita said "Johnny is very angry with you. He is afraid of you. I am worried about what he might do?” Bobby replied “My sweet darling, I love my son more than you can even imagine. I have tried to provide for him in the best way I know how; I have saved money for his studies; and plan to buy him a car soon, I have been working to find him the best University to attend. You give him love and I give him discipline for life. He needs both to survive and so that our son will be his best. What Johnny could do was weeping of love towards his father. Dear children, mothers – Understand the strain of fathers.

Dear Fathers in Christ, let us remember “Great things are not done on impulse, but by a series of small steps taken over a period of time.  Our lives are made up of little tings-little deeds, little happenings, and so on.  If there is something which we want to do, let us not hesitate and think too much.  Let us make a start, however small.  Let us take one step.  Let us plant one seed. “Happy Fathers Day!”

X Sunday in OT:2015: Ex 24: 3-8, Heb 9: 11-15, Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

X Sunday in OT:2015: Ex 24: 3-8, Heb 9: 11-15, Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

Introduction: Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ popularly known as Corpus Christi. It was introduced in the late 13th century to encourage the faithful to give special honor to the Holy Eucharist. It was extended to the entire Latin Church by Urban IV in 1264 and, became a mandatory feast of the Church in 1312. Officially, the solemnity is celebrated on Thursday after Trinity Sunday. However, where it is not a day of obligation, it is celebrated on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.

Exegesis: As we celebrate Corpus Christi today, both our first and second reading talks about covenant, sacrifice, and blood. According to the first reading, the old covenant was sealed with the blood of animal sacrifice which Moses sprinkled on the people. On the contrary, the second reading reminds us that the new covenant was sealed with the blood of Christ. This is what makes the functional difference. While the first covenant never guaranteed eternal life, the new does because it was sealed with a costly blood through a perfect sacrifice offered once and for all. In the gospel, Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist. Here he was both the priest and the victim. This is another difference between the new and the old covenant. Christ as the priest offered himself to God for our salvation. In order words, it is important to note here that whenever we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, Christ is fully present both as the priest and as the victim. He accomplishes his priesthood through the actions of the human priest who as Alter Christus (another Christ) and acts “in persona Christi (in the person of Christ).” On the other hand, he accomplishes his role as a victim in the form of bread and wine. All these put together is what we refer to as an “action of grace.”

The concept of “covenants” has been at the core of both Jewish and Christian faiths from very early on in history. Such covenants are usually seen as agreements between God and the covenanted party. The first covenant was made with Adam and Eve which was broken when they ate of the fruit of the tree, and yet there was a promise of God that the serpent would be crushed.  The second covenant was with Noah and its conditions involved blood. God said he would never destroy the world again by flood, and they we’re never to drink the blood of animals or shed human blood. As a sign he sent the rainbow for them to remember the covenant. A third covenant was made with Abram in which God promised land and posterity. The condition of this promise was that they be circumcised – blood again was involved.  Following this was the Mosaic covenant where God promised that the Israelites would be God’s chosen ones with a Promised land as long as they kept God’s laws and the Ten commandments. The sign of this was the Passover which again involved blood. The blood of the Passover lamb was spread on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not visit their homes. Afterwards, as we read today, Moses took the blood from the offerings and splashed the altar, and then splashed it on the people as a sign of the blood covenant they had made with God. The fifth covenant with the Jews was made with King David who promised David that he would become a Father to the Jewish people, but a father who would use the rod on his children to discipline them if necessary – again, some blood involvement. The last of the Old Testament covenants was made to the prophet Jeremiah when God promises that his Law would not just be on stone but would be written on the hearts of his people, and all who believed in their hearts would become the new chosen.

In the New Testament we see this last covenant fulfilled in the life of God’s son, Jesus. That we have become the new chosen who believe in Jesus and who carry Christ’s law in our hearts. As part of this covenant there is also blood as we see in the Gospel today when Jesus says “This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” The sign of this covenant is the Eucharist which we celebrate today.

Joke: A man and a friend are playing golf one day at their local golf course. One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course. He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer. 

His friend says: “Wow, that is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen. You truly are a kind man.” 

The man then replies: “Yeah, well we were married 35 years.”  

Marriage is a covenant. Only those who are faithful to the marriage covenant be eligible to be partakers of the Eucharistic covenant.

Practical Applications: 1) Let us appreciate the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, by receiving him with true repentance for our sins, due preparation and reverence.  2) Let us be Christ-bearers and conveyers: By receiving Holy Communion, we become Christ-bearers as Mary was, with the duty of conveying Christ to others at home and in the workplace, through love, mercy, forgiveness and humble and sacrificial service.  3) Let us offer our lives on the altar along with Jesus’ sacrifice, asking pardon for our sins, expressing gratitude for the blessings we have received and presenting our needs and petitions on the altar.

Introduction : X Sunday in Ordinary Time – Corpus Christi

Message: Moses ratifies the covenant by offering a thanksgiving sacrifice and by sprinkling blood over the people. The new covenant, the law’s oblation, is ratified in the blood of Christ, the unblemished offering poured out for us.

Saints and Events in this Week:  9 – Ninth – Tuesday – Saint Ephrem, Deacon, Doctor of the Church; 11 – Eleventh – Thursday – Saint Barnabas, Apostle; 12 – Twelfth – Friday – The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus; 13 – Thirteenth – Saturday – The immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest, Doctor of the church

Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ:[2012]

Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

History tells that, in an earlier age before Israel became a nation, men would create a special bond, becoming “blood brothers,” and the bond was ratified by drinking each other’s blood. Later on, substitutes for this “bonding ritual” were created, such as eating a sacrificial meal or sprinkling the blood of a sacrificed animal on the parties to the ritual. In our recent history, we see traces of other substitutes, such as in the frontier days of cowboys and Indians (two men would make an incision on their arms, then clasp them together, becoming “blood brothers”).

In effect, we are talking about creating a “community of life,” whether of individuals or a nation. The Mosaic Covenant was the creation of a new community of life, a bond between the Israelites and the Life-Giver, Yahweh. This bonding ritual was ratified by sprinkling the blood of sacrificed animals on the people. Our ancestors understood this ritual, which was a part of their culture, so it would not have been an unpleasant experience for them.

But Jesus gave us a New Covenant at the Last Supper (Mark 14:22-24). This ritual also created a “community of life” and it was ratified when Jesus sacrificed his own body and shed his own blood for our redemption. Those who believe in the Real Presence recognize and understand by faith that in this new way, Jesus is giving us new life. It looks like bread and wine to our senses, but it is truly the precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in sacramental form.

Especially on Sundays we are invited to renew our bonding ritual, the New Covenant, by receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus and uniting ourselves to him at this sacrificial meal (CCC #1331). By celebrating this Eucharist, we give thanks to God for his works of creation, redemption, and sanctification (CCC #1328). 

Trinity Sunday: IX in OT:2015:Dt4:32-34,39-40;Rom8:14-17;Mt28:16-20

Trinity Sunday: IX in OT:2015:Dt4:32-34,39-40;Rom8:14-17;Mt28:16-20

Introduction: We believe in the Mystery of Trinity because Jesus who is God taught it clearly, the Evangelists recorded it, the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it and the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of Christian Faith.

Exegesis:  Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ final apparition to his apostles just before his Ascension into Heaven. Jesus commissioned them to make disciples of all nations and commanded them to baptize those who came to believe, “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “ Here is the Trinitarian apostolic blessing of St. Paul, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). These words are the same words that the ministers of God use when blessing people and objects or when administering the Sacraments. From this evidence and other Biblical passages that are found in the Holy Bible, it is very clear that there are Three Divine Presences in the Holy Trinity. Yet, there is One God.

Event-1: A couple received by mail two tickets for a first class New York City Broadway show. They did not understand who sent them, but they thankfully went. They returned home and found their home stripped of cash, paintings, and jewels. On their table, they found a note which read, "NOW YOU UNDERSTAND."  It was a mystery. May be we will not understand in the beginning but later. After all, why does God have to tell us everything?. We experience light and also its absence darkness.  We experience heat and its absence cold. We experience the reality of God and we worship.

Event-2: A killing time struck up in a conversation.  "Father, I believe only what I can understand. So, I can't buy your Trinity. Perhaps you can explain it to me." The priest reluctantly put down The news paper. "Do you see the sun out there?" "Yup." "OK, it's 80 million miles away from us right now. The rays coming through the window," said the priest, "are coming from the sun. The delightful heat we are enjoying on our bodies right now come from a combination of the sun and its rays. Do you understand that?" The fellow answered, "Sure, padre." "The Trinity," the priest went on, "is like that. God the Father is that blazing sun. The Son is the rays He sends down to us. Then both combine to send us the Holy Spirit who is the heat. If you understand the workings of the sun, its rays, and heat, why do you have difficulty believing the Trinity?" 

Joke: Three boys are in the schoolyard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50.”

The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.”

The third boy says, “I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon. And it takes eight people to collect all the money!”

Practical Applications: 1) We need to respect ourselves and respect others.  Being ‘temples of the Holy spirit’ we should behave well in his holy presence and lead purer and holier lives.

2) The awareness and conviction of the presence of God within us, gives us the strength to face the manifold problems of life with Christian courage.  

4) We are called to become more like the Triune God through all our relationships.  Praying for others means, making our relation with others uniting with God. When Husband and wife live a Christian married life, they relate their family with God. All our activities and relations should be in the presence of Christ if we are Christians. 

Introduction : Trinity Sunday-IX Week in Ordinary Time

Message: The Lord God is one, there is no other.  We have been chosen as his own, and, through the Spirit, are able to call God Abba.  Through baptism all nations are called to share in the life of the Son and acknowledge the triune God.

Saints and Events in this Week:  1 – First – Monday – Saint Justin, Martyr; 2 – Second – Tuesday – Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs; 3 – Third – Wednesday – Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs; 5 – Fifth – Friday – Saint Boniface, Bishop, Martyr; 6 – Sixth – Saturday – Saint Norbert, Bishop; 

Trinity Sunday:[2012]:Dt 4:32-34,39-40;Rom 8:14-17;Mt 28:16-20

Trinity Sunday:[2012]:Dt4:32-34,39-40;Rom8:14-17;Mt28:16-20

The doctrine of the “Holy Trinity” is very hard to understand. Is there a quick way to learn about this belief? You are not alone, because we are once again in the area of “mystery.” As you can see, these “mysteries” all seem to loom large right after Easter, the greatest mystery of all. It is our faith in that mystery of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection that enables us to walk once again in the sheer faith of our spiritual journey. So in rapid fashion after the Easter season, we celebrate the mysteries of Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ), and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The early Christians had a difficult “doctrinal transition” to make: from believing in the One God, to believing in this same One God as enfleshed in Jesus the Christ. So they developed “Trinitarian language” to preserve both of those truths, as well as a third truth: that the Spirit of Jesus kept the presence of God constantly in our midst. In fact, it is this Spirit of God who dwells within the believer through baptism.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus articulates this truth, when he commands his disciples to baptize and teach “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:16-20). The early Church Fathers enshrined this dogmatic belief in “One God but Three Divine Persons in that One Godhead,” by encasing that belief in a dogmatic Creed. It still remains a “mystery,” and the poverty of our human understanding shows the gap between the Human and the Divine. So the answer to your question is “No, there is no quick way” to absorb this concept, except the way of faith.

What an incredible gift is the theological virtue of faith, the free assent of the believer to the whole truth that God has revealed (CCC #126, 142)! The mystery of the Trinity in itself is inaccessible to the human mind and is the object of faith only because it was revealed by Jesus Christ, the divine Son of the eternal Father. The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity (CCC #232, 237).

Pentecost Sunday:2015:Acts2:1-11;ICor12:3-7,12-13;Jn20:19-23

Pentecost Sunday:2015:Acts2:1-11;ICor12:3-7,12-13;Jn20:19-23

Introduction:  Today is Pentecost Sunday, the great day of a fulfilled promise. The Greek word "pentecostes" means "fiftieth." After a period of fifty days of the resurrection of Christ, we have come to the definitive end of Easter Season. The Jewish Pentecost originally came to be associated with the giving of the Torah, the Law, to Moses, a post-harvest thanksgiving feast. Later, since the days of apostles and descend of the Holy Ghost, the implications have changed. It is often called ‘White Sunday’ from the practice of giving solemn Baptism on that day in early centuries, the candidates being attired in white baptismal robes." Pentecost is a feast which occupies a very important and prominent position in the Church’s history and liturgical calendar. This is because a great number of scholars have suggested that Pentecost marks the actual beginning of the church and, her missionary endeavors.

Exegesis:    Today’s Gospel relates how the risen Jesus gave his apostles a foretaste of Pentecost on the evening of Easter Sunday by appearing to them and inviting them  to carry on the mission given him by his Heavenly Father.  He then empowered them to do so by breathing upon them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  On the day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send the Advocate or Paraclete. The gift of the Spirit would enable them to fulfill Jesus’ commission to preach the Gospel to all nations as well.  Today’s Gospel passage also tells us how Jesus gave to the Apostles the power and authority to forgive sins.  “Receive the Holy Spirit.  For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”  These wonderful words which bind together inseparably the presence of the Holy Spirit and the gift of forgiveness are referred to directly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  But they have a much wider meaning.  Those words indicate the power we are all given of being the agents of forgiveness in the world of today, which is often fiercely judgmental and vengeful.  

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are enumerated in Isaiah 11:2-3. They are present in their fullness in Jesus Christ but are found in all Christians who are in a state of grace. We receive them when we are infused with sanctifying grace, the life of God within us—as, for example, when we receive a sacrament worthily. As the current Catechism of the Catholic Church (para. 1831) notes, "They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them." Infused with His gifts, we respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as if by instinct, the way Christ Himself would. The seven gifts are 1. Wisdom 2.Understanding 3. Counsel 4. Fortitude 5. Knowledge 6. Piety 7. Fear of the Lord.

Joke:  There is an old joke about a man who asked his pastor whether it was okay to smoke while he prayed. His pastor said, “Absolutely not! When you pray you should be completely devoted to prayer.” So the man went to another priest, but he changed his question, “Would it be okay to pray while I smoke?” “Yes, of course” was the answer.

Practical Applications: 1) Let the Holy Spirit take control of our lives. How do we do that? Pray for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we may fight against our temptations and control our evil tendencies, evil habits and addictions. 2) Remembering His holy presence will help us to practice love, mercy and forgiveness. And thus we become holy.

Introduction: Pentacost Sunday

Message:  All of us have been baptized into one and the same Spirit; let us live, then, by the Spirit!  That same Spirit, the Advocate, who “renews the face of the earth”, was given as gift to the disciples to strengthen them to go forth in the name of the Lord, and to obtain forgiveness of sins.

Saints and events in this Week:  25 – Twenty fifth – Monday – Saint Bede the Venerable, Priest, Doctor of the Church; Saint Gregory VII, Pope; Saint Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, virgin; 26 – Twenty Sixth – Tuesday – Saint Philip Neri, Priest; 27 – Twenty Seventh – Wednesday – Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop; 

Pentecost Sunday:2012:[B]:Acts2:1-11;1Cori 12:3-7,12-13;Jn20:19-23

Pentecost Sunday:2012:[B]:Acts2:1-11;1Cori 12:3-7,12-13;Jn20:19-23

"Do you understand this Pentecost event of being “filled with the Holy Spirit”?(Acts 2:1-11).

A friend once told me that life isn't about understanding the mystery of God. It is about experiencing it. Jesus taught us that when he said the Kingdom of God is “within” us (Lk 17). Baptism brings us one of the most awesome gifts that Jesus promised to us and gave to us, the gift of the Holy Spirit (which we celebrate in a special way every Pentecost). It is the Holy Spirit that leads us to truth, by opening our eyes to ourselves, our world, and Jesus. It is intended by God that we experience his presence right now.

Too often we are worrying about the future, or even the past. When we complicate our life with such undue concerns, it makes it almost impossible to live in the present. Many of us have a favorite way to reduce the stressful demands on us. That usually means waiting for “later,” such as going to the beach or mountains to relax. Or maybe you have an occasional hobby such as gardening or visiting museums. All of these are helpful. But we also need ways to relax and experience the presence of God during the immediate demands and stresses of the day.

First of all, we need to focus on God. Do we deliberately look for his fingerprints in all of the things that he has created in nature? Can I see Jesus in my neighbor, and can he see Jesus in me? After all, if we are truly living the Christian life to the fullest, then we should be a mirror image of Jesus. If that mirror-image is not there, what can I do about that? Do I really act like I believe that the Spirit of God dwells within me?

It is vital to remember that on that first Pentecost the believers were all gathered in one place, and as usual were praying; their focus was on the Lord, who had promised them an outpouring of the Holy Spirit (CCC #2623; 1287). This special mystery of God is experienced with the eyes of faith, a gift that enables us to believe in his presence within us.