St. Stephen's Lectors
Thanks to all the lectors. Go out to the world and proclaim the Good News. Be part of the Mission.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
St Stephen's Way of the Cross
St Stephen's Stations of the Cross with Music
Part I
Part II
My project St Stephen's Way of the cross is finished. I thank Mr Bob Neumayer and Ms Carol Hopkins to help me with the Sound Track for the stations. It is a full DVD based on the Mural paintings from St stephen's Church, Manhatan where I am now. May God Bless You all who watch it. It has opening prayer and a song by Ms Michelle and the crucifixion scene of St Stephen's Church by C.Brumidi then 14 stations prayers by Fr Sunny John, Ms Carol Hopkins and Mr Bob Neumayer and the Music mainly from Marialla then the closing prayer, litany of saints and then thanks. It is more than One Hour DVD show.Thanks for the support
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
THERE IS NO ROSE , IF THERE IS NO THORN STEMS.4TH Sunday Ordinary
Photo from St Stephen's Church , Mid town New York
Love Never Fails
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
If you know Mary Beth Bonacci’ book called Real Love, she addresses in the opening chapter what are some of the characteristics of [real] love? She says:-
"People use the word "love" a lot of different ways. We hear people saying that I love my mom and dad and also I love pizza.
What am I saying when I say I love my mom and dad? I’m saying that I care about them. I’m saying that if they needed me, I would do everything humanly possible to help them. I’m saying that I always want what is best for them.
But ,When I say I love pizza, I’m just saying that I enjoy eating pizza until I don’t want any more pizza. Once I’m tired of the pizza, I don’t care what happens to the rest of it. I’ll throw it away. I’ll feed it to the dog. It doesn’t matter to me anymore.
These are two very different definitions of the word "love."
It gets confusing when people start talking about love and especially about loving you. Which way do these people love you? Do they want what is best for you, or do they just want you around because it is good for them, and they don’t really care what happens to you?
This means that the opposite of pizza love is what might be called "Jesus love"—which is precisely the kind of love that St. Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 13. Charlie Osburn has said that "Real love is not an emotion, it’s a decision." It’s a decision to sacrifice my own desires and to treat someone as God would have me treat them.
As we read the list of love’s characteristics in the second reading, we realize just how countercultural it is. Our society does not encourage us to be patient, or even kind.
In today’s Gospel people are envious and impatient with the teaching of Jesus Christ. Envy is an insidious vice. Many confuse it with jealousy or greed; but it is different from these two faults. Jealousy wants what the other person has and is not prepared to share. Greed simply wants as much and more than the other. Envy, however, simply does not want the other to have any advantage. It is totally destructive.
St James says in Chapter 3 verse 4 and 5 “See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.” You can close the mouth of thousands of Jars but it is difficult to close the mouth of a person. Today, we need to learn from the Gospel that one should never allow oneself to back away because of envious criticism. Looking at today's gospel incident, If Jesus had allowed himself to back away from his mission to make the good news known to all people because his friends and neighbors had given him the cold shoulder, then the world history would have been much different. It is worth asking - how often have we backed off, or have been tempted to quit, because of envious criticism? Our natural reaction is to say "To heck with it all!" My parents used to say to me when I complain only the barking Dog gets the stones.
You may know THE STORY OF THE CRAB and the BUCKET. One time a man was walking along the beach and saw another man fishing in the surf with a bait bucket beside him. As he drew closer, he saw that the bait bucket had no lid and had live crabs inside. He asked. “Why don't you cover your bait bucket so the crabs won't escape?” You don't understand.” the man replied, "If there is one crab in the bucket it would surely crawl out very quickly. However, when there are many crabs in the bucket, if one tries to crawl up the side, the others grab hold of it and pull it back down so that it will share the same fate as the rest of them."
So it is with people. If one tries to do something different, get better grades, improve herself or himself, escape her or his environment, or dream big dreams, other people will try to drag them back down to share their fate. Don’t be discouraged with the cold shoulders of others. Let me remind you the incident of St Paul at the shore of Malta in Acts Chapter 28 verses 1- 10. When Paul and the disciples were in a shipwreck and reached the island Malta first the islanders showed them unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed them. When a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on Paul’s hand, then the idea changed .The islanders considered him as murderer and a curse expecting him to swell up and fall dead. But when they realized after a long time nothing happened to him, they changed their mind and said he is a God and treated him as God. This is our human psychology.
Yes my dear brothers and sisters this actually pictures our attitude, we like to swim with the tide, like to go with the flow.
Ignore the crabs. Charge ahead and do what is right for you. It may not be easy and you may not succeed as much as you like, but you will NEVER share the same fate as those never try.
WE do not want hear the truth. Centuries later in Italy it was commonly believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Everyone believed that the sun revolved around the earth and that the earth was the center of the solar system. A Polish scientist by the name of Copernicus had argued otherwise a century earlier, but nobody took him seriously. Then an Italian scientist by the name of Galileo came along and showed them through a telescope that they were all wrong. Italians, including distinguished Cardinals in Rome, were shocked and horrified. They had Galileo arrested and silenced because he upset their ways of seeing reality and their self-inflated attitudes about humans being the center of God's universe. Their minds were up and they didn't want to be confused by the facts, even facts that came to them through a telescope.
So how do we humans often react in the face of such confrontations, when we are challenged much like the hometown folks of Nazareth were challenged? We kill the messenger. "If you don't like the message, well, then, get rid of the messenger." If you are in a court trial, make the prosecuting attorneys and the police look like either bullies or fools. Destroy the witnesses by discrediting them or by ruining their reputations or transferring them from the job. If the message you are hearing upsets you, destroy either the content of the message or else destroy the messenger.
We like to pride ourselves in thinking that we want to hear the truth. We even tell our wives, our husbands and our children that we want to hear the truth from them. But if they present us with a truth that requires radical change, then watch out!
What happened to Jesus is personalized for us “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first….. Jesus said; “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” The good news is that we share in the mission of Jesus and he will be with us always. The challenging news is that following him would not be a “rose garden.” It is a way of the Cross. There is no rose ,if there is no thorn stems.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
If you know Mary Beth Bonacci’ book called Real Love, she addresses in the opening chapter what are some of the characteristics of [real] love? She says:-
"People use the word "love" a lot of different ways. We hear people saying that I love my mom and dad and also I love pizza.
What am I saying when I say I love my mom and dad? I’m saying that I care about them. I’m saying that if they needed me, I would do everything humanly possible to help them. I’m saying that I always want what is best for them.
But ,When I say I love pizza, I’m just saying that I enjoy eating pizza until I don’t want any more pizza. Once I’m tired of the pizza, I don’t care what happens to the rest of it. I’ll throw it away. I’ll feed it to the dog. It doesn’t matter to me anymore.
These are two very different definitions of the word "love."
It gets confusing when people start talking about love and especially about loving you. Which way do these people love you? Do they want what is best for you, or do they just want you around because it is good for them, and they don’t really care what happens to you?
This means that the opposite of pizza love is what might be called "Jesus love"—which is precisely the kind of love that St. Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 13. Charlie Osburn has said that "Real love is not an emotion, it’s a decision." It’s a decision to sacrifice my own desires and to treat someone as God would have me treat them.
As we read the list of love’s characteristics in the second reading, we realize just how countercultural it is. Our society does not encourage us to be patient, or even kind.
In today’s Gospel people are envious and impatient with the teaching of Jesus Christ. Envy is an insidious vice. Many confuse it with jealousy or greed; but it is different from these two faults. Jealousy wants what the other person has and is not prepared to share. Greed simply wants as much and more than the other. Envy, however, simply does not want the other to have any advantage. It is totally destructive.
St James says in Chapter 3 verse 4 and 5 “See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.” You can close the mouth of thousands of Jars but it is difficult to close the mouth of a person. Today, we need to learn from the Gospel that one should never allow oneself to back away because of envious criticism. Looking at today's gospel incident, If Jesus had allowed himself to back away from his mission to make the good news known to all people because his friends and neighbors had given him the cold shoulder, then the world history would have been much different. It is worth asking - how often have we backed off, or have been tempted to quit, because of envious criticism? Our natural reaction is to say "To heck with it all!" My parents used to say to me when I complain only the barking Dog gets the stones.
You may know THE STORY OF THE CRAB and the BUCKET. One time a man was walking along the beach and saw another man fishing in the surf with a bait bucket beside him. As he drew closer, he saw that the bait bucket had no lid and had live crabs inside. He asked. “Why don't you cover your bait bucket so the crabs won't escape?” You don't understand.” the man replied, "If there is one crab in the bucket it would surely crawl out very quickly. However, when there are many crabs in the bucket, if one tries to crawl up the side, the others grab hold of it and pull it back down so that it will share the same fate as the rest of them."
So it is with people. If one tries to do something different, get better grades, improve herself or himself, escape her or his environment, or dream big dreams, other people will try to drag them back down to share their fate. Don’t be discouraged with the cold shoulders of others. Let me remind you the incident of St Paul at the shore of Malta in Acts Chapter 28 verses 1- 10. When Paul and the disciples were in a shipwreck and reached the island Malta first the islanders showed them unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed them. When a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on Paul’s hand, then the idea changed .The islanders considered him as murderer and a curse expecting him to swell up and fall dead. But when they realized after a long time nothing happened to him, they changed their mind and said he is a God and treated him as God. This is our human psychology.
Yes my dear brothers and sisters this actually pictures our attitude, we like to swim with the tide, like to go with the flow.
Ignore the crabs. Charge ahead and do what is right for you. It may not be easy and you may not succeed as much as you like, but you will NEVER share the same fate as those never try.
WE do not want hear the truth. Centuries later in Italy it was commonly believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Everyone believed that the sun revolved around the earth and that the earth was the center of the solar system. A Polish scientist by the name of Copernicus had argued otherwise a century earlier, but nobody took him seriously. Then an Italian scientist by the name of Galileo came along and showed them through a telescope that they were all wrong. Italians, including distinguished Cardinals in Rome, were shocked and horrified. They had Galileo arrested and silenced because he upset their ways of seeing reality and their self-inflated attitudes about humans being the center of God's universe. Their minds were up and they didn't want to be confused by the facts, even facts that came to them through a telescope.
So how do we humans often react in the face of such confrontations, when we are challenged much like the hometown folks of Nazareth were challenged? We kill the messenger. "If you don't like the message, well, then, get rid of the messenger." If you are in a court trial, make the prosecuting attorneys and the police look like either bullies or fools. Destroy the witnesses by discrediting them or by ruining their reputations or transferring them from the job. If the message you are hearing upsets you, destroy either the content of the message or else destroy the messenger.
We like to pride ourselves in thinking that we want to hear the truth. We even tell our wives, our husbands and our children that we want to hear the truth from them. But if they present us with a truth that requires radical change, then watch out!
What happened to Jesus is personalized for us “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first….. Jesus said; “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” The good news is that we share in the mission of Jesus and he will be with us always. The challenging news is that following him would not be a “rose garden.” It is a way of the Cross. There is no rose ,if there is no thorn stems.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
3rd Sunday Ordinary Year C
Photo from the St Stephen's Church, manhattan
The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
A group, highly established in their careers, got together to visit an oldteacher. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the teacher went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups -porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all had coffee in hand, the teacher said:” You will notice, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive; and in some cases, even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... and then began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee.” AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care. St Paul says in our readings today all the members of the body are important.
My dear brothers and sisters why I said this story is because we all received the same spirit of God when we are baptized and we all have the same mission of Jesus to follow. WE are all part of one body the Christ and the Church. What we can do with what we have and what we are no one else can do in this world, it may not be noteworthy, we may not be awarded or it will not get any news value or public attention but what we do only we can do as the members of one big family.
The synagogue service contained five parts. First, the "Shemá" was proclaimed: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9; Numbers 15: 37-41). Secondly, The Prayer took place, which was comprised of eighteen blessings and petitions. Thirdly, there was a reading from the Torah or the Law. Then a reading took place from the Prophets, and finally, an explanation of the Scripture was a part of the synagogal liturgy which was concluded with the antiphonal chanting of a psalm. The second reading, taken from the prophets, could be read and interpreted by anyone over thirty years of age. And here is exactly where Jesus finds Himself in this Sunday's Gospel passage.
The passage from the Prophet Isaiah that Jesus read is from chapter 61, verses 1 and 2. It has profound practical applications for our daily lives. Let us consider each part of the text. If Jesus were to have had a mission statement I think this is it.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor". The poor does not refer to a social class of people, but rather to an essential posture that all believers need to have in their relationship with God. Humility and total trust in God are necessary virtues for all those who call themselves believers.
"He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed...". Christ has come to free us from the blindness and domination of sin. Once again we are reminded of the importance of the Sacrament of Confession. When we participate in this awesome sacrament, we are freed from the power and darkness of evil and sin. To be held captive by sin is a tyranny far worse than any physical tyranny. A person can be physically imprisoned, yet still be spiritually free.
“Thomas a Kempis wrote in the spiritual classic, ‘The Imitation of Christ’ that: “Jesus has always many who love His heavenly Kingdom, but few who bear His cross. All desire to be happy with Him. Few wish to suffer anything for Him. Many follow Him to the breaking of the bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His Passion,”
Our second reading reminds us that we need not be someone we are not. Some of us are designed to hear, see, touch, smell, think and feel better than others. Yes, there are a variety of parts that make the whole. The message seems to be an invitation to use our parts and use them with integrity. St. Paul today tells us that we are all part of the same body, and that body is Christ.
None of us is to be considered less important than any other. No matter what my work, which I have chosen after careful consideration and thought, it is a work that no one else can do. Only I can do it. You cannot do it for me, nor can I do your life’s work for you. And each of us by that work will contribute to the happiness and good of each other. This is what makes our work, our labor so very special and so very important. And that is what we want to keep in our heart that we are important. WE are not good for nothing. I am special person unique in my nature and Important.
Think of this in a hospital setting. I go to the hospital to obtain assistance because of an illness. Every person in that hospital has a part to play in my recovery. And each one must contribute his or her talent, skill and expertise, if I am to return to good health. If any one of them fails, for whatever reason, to provide his so needed work, I will be set back. The doctor, the nurse, the technician, the radiologist, the aide, the clerk, the housekeeper, the maintenance man, the administrator and on and on, must add that effort that each of them, and only them, can bring as assistance to me.
None of us can complain that we are not important. Each of us is mightily important and needed. None of us need be jealous of other. I cannot do the work that you have been called to do. You cannot take up the work that God has called me to do. I need not envy you; you will find no profit in envying me. Each of us has been led down the path that will be ours and ours alone.
Be proud of your life, respect your life, live it to the full! You are a Very Important Person! You don’t need to act like what you are not. You are what you are and you have a special role to play.
Ask yourself…what part of the body of Christ am I…each of us is a part and a very important part. Am I Christ’s arms & hands – do I reach out to those in need? Am I the leg and foot …do I go where Christ is needed? Am I the eyes of Christ, do I see what is needed and act upon what I see? Am I the voice of Christ…do I unflinchingly proclaim God’s laws? Just what part of the body of Christ am I? Examine your gifts…are you putting your gifts to building up the kingdom of God? Or are you like the rich people who keep their possessions in the bank locker and die poor?
We can only do this if we let the loving Spirit of God touch our hearts, just as this Spirit is at the very center of Jesus’ heart. This Spirit sustained Jesus in his mission. We need God's spirit of love in our hearts if we are to sustain the hope and have the courage to continue Jesus’ mission today.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
A group, highly established in their careers, got together to visit an oldteacher. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the teacher went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups -porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all had coffee in hand, the teacher said:” You will notice, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive; and in some cases, even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... and then began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee.” AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care. St Paul says in our readings today all the members of the body are important.
My dear brothers and sisters why I said this story is because we all received the same spirit of God when we are baptized and we all have the same mission of Jesus to follow. WE are all part of one body the Christ and the Church. What we can do with what we have and what we are no one else can do in this world, it may not be noteworthy, we may not be awarded or it will not get any news value or public attention but what we do only we can do as the members of one big family.
The synagogue service contained five parts. First, the "Shemá" was proclaimed: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9; Numbers 15: 37-41). Secondly, The Prayer took place, which was comprised of eighteen blessings and petitions. Thirdly, there was a reading from the Torah or the Law. Then a reading took place from the Prophets, and finally, an explanation of the Scripture was a part of the synagogal liturgy which was concluded with the antiphonal chanting of a psalm. The second reading, taken from the prophets, could be read and interpreted by anyone over thirty years of age. And here is exactly where Jesus finds Himself in this Sunday's Gospel passage.
The passage from the Prophet Isaiah that Jesus read is from chapter 61, verses 1 and 2. It has profound practical applications for our daily lives. Let us consider each part of the text. If Jesus were to have had a mission statement I think this is it.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor". The poor does not refer to a social class of people, but rather to an essential posture that all believers need to have in their relationship with God. Humility and total trust in God are necessary virtues for all those who call themselves believers.
"He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed...". Christ has come to free us from the blindness and domination of sin. Once again we are reminded of the importance of the Sacrament of Confession. When we participate in this awesome sacrament, we are freed from the power and darkness of evil and sin. To be held captive by sin is a tyranny far worse than any physical tyranny. A person can be physically imprisoned, yet still be spiritually free.
“Thomas a Kempis wrote in the spiritual classic, ‘The Imitation of Christ’ that: “Jesus has always many who love His heavenly Kingdom, but few who bear His cross. All desire to be happy with Him. Few wish to suffer anything for Him. Many follow Him to the breaking of the bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His Passion,”
Our second reading reminds us that we need not be someone we are not. Some of us are designed to hear, see, touch, smell, think and feel better than others. Yes, there are a variety of parts that make the whole. The message seems to be an invitation to use our parts and use them with integrity. St. Paul today tells us that we are all part of the same body, and that body is Christ.
None of us is to be considered less important than any other. No matter what my work, which I have chosen after careful consideration and thought, it is a work that no one else can do. Only I can do it. You cannot do it for me, nor can I do your life’s work for you. And each of us by that work will contribute to the happiness and good of each other. This is what makes our work, our labor so very special and so very important. And that is what we want to keep in our heart that we are important. WE are not good for nothing. I am special person unique in my nature and Important.
Think of this in a hospital setting. I go to the hospital to obtain assistance because of an illness. Every person in that hospital has a part to play in my recovery. And each one must contribute his or her talent, skill and expertise, if I am to return to good health. If any one of them fails, for whatever reason, to provide his so needed work, I will be set back. The doctor, the nurse, the technician, the radiologist, the aide, the clerk, the housekeeper, the maintenance man, the administrator and on and on, must add that effort that each of them, and only them, can bring as assistance to me.
None of us can complain that we are not important. Each of us is mightily important and needed. None of us need be jealous of other. I cannot do the work that you have been called to do. You cannot take up the work that God has called me to do. I need not envy you; you will find no profit in envying me. Each of us has been led down the path that will be ours and ours alone.
Be proud of your life, respect your life, live it to the full! You are a Very Important Person! You don’t need to act like what you are not. You are what you are and you have a special role to play.
Ask yourself…what part of the body of Christ am I…each of us is a part and a very important part. Am I Christ’s arms & hands – do I reach out to those in need? Am I the leg and foot …do I go where Christ is needed? Am I the eyes of Christ, do I see what is needed and act upon what I see? Am I the voice of Christ…do I unflinchingly proclaim God’s laws? Just what part of the body of Christ am I? Examine your gifts…are you putting your gifts to building up the kingdom of God? Or are you like the rich people who keep their possessions in the bank locker and die poor?
We can only do this if we let the loving Spirit of God touch our hearts, just as this Spirit is at the very center of Jesus’ heart. This Spirit sustained Jesus in his mission. We need God's spirit of love in our hearts if we are to sustain the hope and have the courage to continue Jesus’ mission today.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Sacred Heart of Jesus at St Stephen's Church
Sacred Heart of Jesus at the left hand side of Our Lady of the Scapular and St stehen's Church.
Photo by Fr Sunny John (Vincent Pazhukkakulam) O.Carm.
Second Sunday Mother Mary and the wedding at Cana
“Do whatever he tells you to do.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
There are two great wedding feasts found in the New Testament, one being the wedding feast of Cana and the other being what the bible refers to as “The Wedding Feast of the Lamb”, namely the Last Supper. The first wedding banquet opens the gospel of St. John -- the second closes it.
Responding to His mother’s request at Cana’s wedding banquet, Jesus declares that His “hour” has not yet come. Nevertheless He acts, changing water into rich wine. At the close of His life His “hour” comes in its fullness beginning with the Last Supper, whereupon He changes the wine into His Precious Blood.
Besides Jesus, his mother and disciples were also invited to the wedding. The Virgin Mary, even at this early stage, showed us that she always thinks of others and that she is very observant. She told her Son, “They have no wine.” The Lord had not decided yet to do things in public. So he said to her, “It is still not my hour.” But the Virgin knew that he would not deny her request. Surely, she was worried about the newlywed couple that, almost at the beginning of the feast, had already found themselves without wine for their guests. In the Middle East, when a feast is held, they like to ensure that nothing is wanting, that everything is abundantly available, that there is no lack of food or drink. The banquets, even among the people who are not well off, are sumptuous. How embarrassing it would be for this young couple to begin their lives together if they could not provide sufficient food and drink for their guests. And, on this occasion, if the problem with the wine was not resolved, the family would be very embarrassed. And that is what the Blessed Virgin saw. She had to ask her Son to do something. She was sure that he would resolve the problem. So she told the servants “Do what he asks you to do.” The Lord himself told us that whatever we ask for in his name would be given to us. He always gives much more than we ask for and much more than we deserve.
At the wedding feast of Cana the importance of the intercession of the Virgin Mary is highlighted.
The Bible calls on all of us to offer prayers, petitions, intercessions and acts of thanksgiving to God (1Timothy 2:1). In reality, whenever we pray for someone else we act as mediators for them before Our Lord. And that is what the Virgin Mary does when she asks her Son to help us. The Virgin Mary, because she is the Mother of God, because she lived a life of total dedication and faith, and because she is closely united with her Son in heaven, is the Mediatrix, par excellence, between Him and humanity. Love’s transforming power can change anything and everything. If we respond to love and allow it into our hearts and souls we become changed persons. If we let God’s love loose in our world the world we live in would be changed – transformed. All that we’ve watered down would be turned into rich and tasty wine.
But if you want any miracle in your life, if you find out and realize your wine in your life is run out. To get it filled you have to believe in His words and you have to act upon what he asks of you to do. We must respond to God’s initiative. God has offered – nothing will happen unless and until we respond. God provides everything in abundance. He won’t just give what is enough for you but you will have it in abundance but only if you allow Him to act in your life. Jesus just won’t open the door and come in unless we invite him to come in as we read from the revelation 3:20. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me”.
Look at the extraordinary quantity of water that Jesus transformed into wine. Let’s say the six water jars each held 25 gallons of water, that’s 150 imperial gallons—turn that into liters. There’s 75 centiliters in a bottle, so multiply by a hundred and divide by 75. It works out at over 900 bottles of wine! God provides in abundance. Have trust in Him. HE will provide.
A more fascinating question arising from the story is this: Did Mary knows all those thirty years she lived with Jesus that she was living with a wonder-worker and yet never she asks him to multiply her bread, turn the water on the dining table into wine, or double her money to make ends meet? How come she never asked Jesus to use his miraculous power to help her out but she was quick to ask him to use it and help others? Think of it. If you have a child who has a miraculous power to double money for other kids at school, won't you ask him to double yours at home too? After all, one would argue, charity begins at home. But for Mary and for Jesus the needs of the other come first. That is our Mother Mary. That is why we ask her help.
This is telling us that God's gifts to individuals are not meant primarily for their or their families' benefit but for the service of others. That is what St Paul also tells us in the second reading when he enumerates the many different gifts of the Holy Spirit to different persons and adds that "to each person is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good," (1 Corinthians 12:6) not for personal profit.
Today, then, is a good day to ask ourselves: "What gifts has God given me? Am I using these gifts mainly for my own personal profit or for the service of others in the community?" We sometimes wonder why there is no life in the church. There are some people who won’t use their gifts and will not allow others to use their gifts. Maybe the reason is that we have grown more selfish. If we began using the little gifts we have for the common good -- like the gift of praying, singing, teaching, caring, sharing, encouraging, supporting, motivating, writing, etc. -- then these gifts will probably begin to grow and soon we will begin to see miracles. Concern for others is the beginning of miracles. Why we do not see any miracles, because we are selfish people and we are not concerned of others.
If you took a class in physics, you may remember that there are two kinds of energy: potential energy and kinetic energy. Potential energy is stored in a non-moving object. This would be your gift. The potential is only of use when it is put into motion. So how do we get all this potential here at St. Stephen’s to get moving? Or in another way, we are all on a journey, but we must move in order to get somewhere.
There is no greater helper for you in all of this than She who said at Cana: “do whatever He tells you.” She brought Jesus to Cana; she saw the needs of the newly-wed. She is still the same Mary. She has the same concern for all of us. Her advice is still the same: “do whatever He tells you.”
Let her not be a stranger to your home or your hearts. Be not strangers to her, and Christ will bring fullness of grace and glory to you, fill your hearts with peace. If Mary is present in your lives, She will notice all the run out wines in your lives. The lack of love, joy, peace, encouragement, happiness , enthusiasm, being loved , etc. all that you crave for in your life are the run out wine you need to be filled in. Who could fill that in…. only Jesus! If Mary is there for you she will take care of it. Trust in Mary and in Jesus and do what he tells you to do and allow Him to act in your life. If those servants did not believe in Mary and in Jesus there could not have been any miracle. It was their faith, their trust that brought miracles to them. Have trust in Him and do your best and then take rest, the rest He will do for you.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
There are two great wedding feasts found in the New Testament, one being the wedding feast of Cana and the other being what the bible refers to as “The Wedding Feast of the Lamb”, namely the Last Supper. The first wedding banquet opens the gospel of St. John -- the second closes it.
Responding to His mother’s request at Cana’s wedding banquet, Jesus declares that His “hour” has not yet come. Nevertheless He acts, changing water into rich wine. At the close of His life His “hour” comes in its fullness beginning with the Last Supper, whereupon He changes the wine into His Precious Blood.
Besides Jesus, his mother and disciples were also invited to the wedding. The Virgin Mary, even at this early stage, showed us that she always thinks of others and that she is very observant. She told her Son, “They have no wine.” The Lord had not decided yet to do things in public. So he said to her, “It is still not my hour.” But the Virgin knew that he would not deny her request. Surely, she was worried about the newlywed couple that, almost at the beginning of the feast, had already found themselves without wine for their guests. In the Middle East, when a feast is held, they like to ensure that nothing is wanting, that everything is abundantly available, that there is no lack of food or drink. The banquets, even among the people who are not well off, are sumptuous. How embarrassing it would be for this young couple to begin their lives together if they could not provide sufficient food and drink for their guests. And, on this occasion, if the problem with the wine was not resolved, the family would be very embarrassed. And that is what the Blessed Virgin saw. She had to ask her Son to do something. She was sure that he would resolve the problem. So she told the servants “Do what he asks you to do.” The Lord himself told us that whatever we ask for in his name would be given to us. He always gives much more than we ask for and much more than we deserve.
At the wedding feast of Cana the importance of the intercession of the Virgin Mary is highlighted.
The Bible calls on all of us to offer prayers, petitions, intercessions and acts of thanksgiving to God (1Timothy 2:1). In reality, whenever we pray for someone else we act as mediators for them before Our Lord. And that is what the Virgin Mary does when she asks her Son to help us. The Virgin Mary, because she is the Mother of God, because she lived a life of total dedication and faith, and because she is closely united with her Son in heaven, is the Mediatrix, par excellence, between Him and humanity. Love’s transforming power can change anything and everything. If we respond to love and allow it into our hearts and souls we become changed persons. If we let God’s love loose in our world the world we live in would be changed – transformed. All that we’ve watered down would be turned into rich and tasty wine.
But if you want any miracle in your life, if you find out and realize your wine in your life is run out. To get it filled you have to believe in His words and you have to act upon what he asks of you to do. We must respond to God’s initiative. God has offered – nothing will happen unless and until we respond. God provides everything in abundance. He won’t just give what is enough for you but you will have it in abundance but only if you allow Him to act in your life. Jesus just won’t open the door and come in unless we invite him to come in as we read from the revelation 3:20. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me”.
Look at the extraordinary quantity of water that Jesus transformed into wine. Let’s say the six water jars each held 25 gallons of water, that’s 150 imperial gallons—turn that into liters. There’s 75 centiliters in a bottle, so multiply by a hundred and divide by 75. It works out at over 900 bottles of wine! God provides in abundance. Have trust in Him. HE will provide.
A more fascinating question arising from the story is this: Did Mary knows all those thirty years she lived with Jesus that she was living with a wonder-worker and yet never she asks him to multiply her bread, turn the water on the dining table into wine, or double her money to make ends meet? How come she never asked Jesus to use his miraculous power to help her out but she was quick to ask him to use it and help others? Think of it. If you have a child who has a miraculous power to double money for other kids at school, won't you ask him to double yours at home too? After all, one would argue, charity begins at home. But for Mary and for Jesus the needs of the other come first. That is our Mother Mary. That is why we ask her help.
This is telling us that God's gifts to individuals are not meant primarily for their or their families' benefit but for the service of others. That is what St Paul also tells us in the second reading when he enumerates the many different gifts of the Holy Spirit to different persons and adds that "to each person is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good," (1 Corinthians 12:6) not for personal profit.
Today, then, is a good day to ask ourselves: "What gifts has God given me? Am I using these gifts mainly for my own personal profit or for the service of others in the community?" We sometimes wonder why there is no life in the church. There are some people who won’t use their gifts and will not allow others to use their gifts. Maybe the reason is that we have grown more selfish. If we began using the little gifts we have for the common good -- like the gift of praying, singing, teaching, caring, sharing, encouraging, supporting, motivating, writing, etc. -- then these gifts will probably begin to grow and soon we will begin to see miracles. Concern for others is the beginning of miracles. Why we do not see any miracles, because we are selfish people and we are not concerned of others.
If you took a class in physics, you may remember that there are two kinds of energy: potential energy and kinetic energy. Potential energy is stored in a non-moving object. This would be your gift. The potential is only of use when it is put into motion. So how do we get all this potential here at St. Stephen’s to get moving? Or in another way, we are all on a journey, but we must move in order to get somewhere.
There is no greater helper for you in all of this than She who said at Cana: “do whatever He tells you.” She brought Jesus to Cana; she saw the needs of the newly-wed. She is still the same Mary. She has the same concern for all of us. Her advice is still the same: “do whatever He tells you.”
Let her not be a stranger to your home or your hearts. Be not strangers to her, and Christ will bring fullness of grace and glory to you, fill your hearts with peace. If Mary is present in your lives, She will notice all the run out wines in your lives. The lack of love, joy, peace, encouragement, happiness , enthusiasm, being loved , etc. all that you crave for in your life are the run out wine you need to be filled in. Who could fill that in…. only Jesus! If Mary is there for you she will take care of it. Trust in Mary and in Jesus and do what he tells you to do and allow Him to act in your life. If those servants did not believe in Mary and in Jesus there could not have been any miracle. It was their faith, their trust that brought miracles to them. Have trust in Him and do your best and then take rest, the rest He will do for you.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Monday, January 08, 2007
CMI Chavara celebration
For More Photos please go to my linkshttp://picasaweb.google.com/vincentocarm/BlChavaraCelebrationBrooklyn
Bronx Celebration
For More Photos http://picasaweb.google.com/vincentocarm/BronxCelebration
Video clips will be available in the Links Videos
baptism Of the Lord: end of Christmas Season
Baptism of the Lord
With this feast, we end the Church’s Christmas season. Because we are baptized we are all like Jesus, beloved sons and daughters of God. On the day we were baptized we were changed forever. Imagine, you became a son or daughter of God on the day you were baptized, enjoying a new relationship with our Father.
What does baptism mean? The meaning of baptism can be found in the four letters of the word RICE. R stands for Rebirth. In baptism we are born again by water and the Holy Spirit. We are cleansed from original sin and become sons and daughters of God in a special way. I stands for Initiation. At baptism we are initiated or admitted into full membership in the church, the community of the children of God in the world. C is for Consecration. In baptism we consecrate and dedicate ourselves to seek and to spread the kingdom of God. We commit ourselves to be servants of God, to do God’s will and serve God with our whole lives. And E is for Empowerment. At baptism the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and empowers us, equips us, gives us the moral strength to say no to evil and to live as God’s children that we have become.
These four effects of baptism can be divided into two categories, the passive effects (what we receive from God and the people of God), namely, rebirth, initiation, and empowerment; and the active effect (what we give to God and the people of God), namely, our commitment and dedication to a cause, to spread the kingdom of God.
Baptism of the Lord signifies the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, which will end in the Paschal Mystery. It reveals to Jesus Himself His special relationship of love with the Father and how the Holy Spirit is with Him in His mission. It also manifests the meaning of Jesus' mission, which is the same as the meaning of His Name, to save from sin and unite all mankind in His love. Here is the link with Christmas: "His name shall be called Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Here is also the link with the Epiphany: Jesus is made manifest by the Father to the Baptist, just as the Star made Him manifest to the Magi. Here is also the link with the Paschal Mystery: the true baptism of Jesus is not in water and is not for the cleansing of any sin of His; no the true baptism is His death to destroy our sin and His Resurrection to restore our life.
What difference does baptism make to us? When Jesus was baptized the Father spoke and said, “You are my Son, the beloved; my favor rests on you.” When we are baptized the Father says over each of us, “You are my son/daughter, my beloved; my favor rests on you.” In the early centuries of the Church all those who had been baptized were described as ‘another Christ’ and called to live as another Christ. Because of baptism, everyone is called to live like another Jesus. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit when he was baptized in the Jordan and we are anointed with the oil of chrism during our baptism and like Jesus we receive the Holy Spirit also.
St Paul said “there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; you are all one in Christ.” (Gal 3:28)
So what is your vocation since baptism? Your vocation is to be another Jesus in the world. Let us also earnestly ask him for the grace to keep us faithful to our baptismal promises to say no to Satan and all his false promises and to say yes to God even unto death.
With this feast, we end the Church’s Christmas season. Because we are baptized we are all like Jesus, beloved sons and daughters of God. On the day we were baptized we were changed forever. Imagine, you became a son or daughter of God on the day you were baptized, enjoying a new relationship with our Father.
What does baptism mean? The meaning of baptism can be found in the four letters of the word RICE. R stands for Rebirth. In baptism we are born again by water and the Holy Spirit. We are cleansed from original sin and become sons and daughters of God in a special way. I stands for Initiation. At baptism we are initiated or admitted into full membership in the church, the community of the children of God in the world. C is for Consecration. In baptism we consecrate and dedicate ourselves to seek and to spread the kingdom of God. We commit ourselves to be servants of God, to do God’s will and serve God with our whole lives. And E is for Empowerment. At baptism the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and empowers us, equips us, gives us the moral strength to say no to evil and to live as God’s children that we have become.
These four effects of baptism can be divided into two categories, the passive effects (what we receive from God and the people of God), namely, rebirth, initiation, and empowerment; and the active effect (what we give to God and the people of God), namely, our commitment and dedication to a cause, to spread the kingdom of God.
Baptism of the Lord signifies the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, which will end in the Paschal Mystery. It reveals to Jesus Himself His special relationship of love with the Father and how the Holy Spirit is with Him in His mission. It also manifests the meaning of Jesus' mission, which is the same as the meaning of His Name, to save from sin and unite all mankind in His love. Here is the link with Christmas: "His name shall be called Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Here is also the link with the Epiphany: Jesus is made manifest by the Father to the Baptist, just as the Star made Him manifest to the Magi. Here is also the link with the Paschal Mystery: the true baptism of Jesus is not in water and is not for the cleansing of any sin of His; no the true baptism is His death to destroy our sin and His Resurrection to restore our life.
What difference does baptism make to us? When Jesus was baptized the Father spoke and said, “You are my Son, the beloved; my favor rests on you.” When we are baptized the Father says over each of us, “You are my son/daughter, my beloved; my favor rests on you.” In the early centuries of the Church all those who had been baptized were described as ‘another Christ’ and called to live as another Christ. Because of baptism, everyone is called to live like another Jesus. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit when he was baptized in the Jordan and we are anointed with the oil of chrism during our baptism and like Jesus we receive the Holy Spirit also.
St Paul said “there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; you are all one in Christ.” (Gal 3:28)
So what is your vocation since baptism? Your vocation is to be another Jesus in the world. Let us also earnestly ask him for the grace to keep us faithful to our baptismal promises to say no to Satan and all his false promises and to say yes to God even unto death.
Friday, January 05, 2007
EPIPHANY DAY
Let us come and adore the King, High Priest of God
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Today when we celebrate the feast of Epiphany we need to ask ourselves, who actually got to find Jesus? Herod and his scribes who had the scriptures failed to find Jesus but the magi who followed the natural light of the stars were able to find him. Why? Because the Jewish authorities, even though they possessed the shining truth of revealed scriptures, did not follow it. They did not walk in the light of the scriptures. The magi, on the other hand, who enjoyed only a star light followed its guidance. By the fact we are baptized and if we are not practicing the catholic faith we are not going to inherit the Kingdom of God. It is not the possession of the truth that matters, it is how prepared we are to walk in the light of the truth that we possess. It is better to have the dim light of the stars and follow it than to have the bright light of the Holy Scriptures and neglect it.
The word "epiphany" means,"a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something or the appearance or manifestation of a divine being"
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus, that is the manifestation of the Divine Son to the nations of the world.
In the Old Testament, the Jewish people believed that they were the exclusive people of God. They divided the whole world into two: Jews who were the people of God, and Gentiles who were not. Some of their prophets and wise men tried to correct this belief by reminding them of the universal love of God for all humankind. This is the message of the gospel that God commissioned Paul to preach: “that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).
Today we remember the Magi who came from faraway lands to worship the baby Jesus. They came guided by a star. Being nature worshippers who had no scriptures, God revealed Himself to them through the means available to them in their own religion. Through the stars they were able to learn of the birth of Jesus and find their way to him. They came as pagans, they worshipped Jesus as pagans, and they went back home as pagans. They did not convert either to Judaism or to Christianity. Their worship was acceptable to God and God directed them in their journey home through a dream. They went back home another way. Whoever meet the Lord can not walk on the same way. The conversion will happen. Those who meet Jesus in their lives will change their way. If not they have not yet met Jesus.
I think that the reason that we call the Magi "wise men" is because they had the wisdom to "return to their own country by a different route." In my own journey, I have to admit that I returned to Herod many times before I was wise enough to take a different route home.
The story of the searching magi serves as a fitting and powerful metaphor for our journey to Christic consciousness. I picture the magi as a caravan--comprising people of all races, genders, colors and orientations, bearing their gifts of self, their gifts of symbols; encouraged and empowered by a deep longing for consciousness and wholeness--a desire that ultimately protects them and us from the unconscious, life-numbing states of being that fear and resist growth and change; states of being that are ultimately egocentric, corrupt and greedy. In today's gospel reading, King Herod serves to illustrate such a state of being and its destructive and life-denying characteristics.
You may remember that the first Christmas Nativity scene, Crib presepio or crèche was made by St Francis of Assisi around 1220 in the town of Greccio near Assisi. He used real animals to create a living scene so that the worshippers could contemplate the birth of the child Jesus in a direct way, making use of the senses, especially sight.
If you pay attention to these magi. There are lot of things to learn. In the late third century Origen gave the kings the names by which we now know them: Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar.
The "Three Kings" comes from two elements: the number of gifts given, and a passage from Psalms 72, which describes three kings (of Tarshish, Sheba, and Seba) offering gifts and giving praise to God.
Often they represented the three continents of the known world: Europe, Asia and Africa. His dark skin identifies the African king, but the Asian king was represented by a complicated hat or turban, often placed on the ground in the front of the painting for emphasis.
The kings frequently were used to represent three ages of man and are painted as a youth, a middle-aged man and an old man with a grey beard.
This understanding of the gifts (as symbols declaring Jesus as king, God, and suffering redeemer) goes back to the second century. Eventually, the gifts also came to symbolize our Christian response: gold represents virtue, incense represents prayer, and myrrh depicts our own suffering for Christ.
In addition to names, we even get physical descriptions of the magi from a treatise that was written around 700. Entitled Excerpta et Collectanea, it hints that the magi represent different races:
"The first is said to have been Melchior, an old man with white hair and a long beard ... who offered gold to the Lord as to a king representing the divinity of Jesus. The second, Gaspar by name, young and beardless and ruddy complexioned ... honored him as God by his gift of incense, an oblation worthy of divinity and prayer and worship. The third, black-skinned and heavily bearded, named Balthazar ... by his gift of myrrh testified to the Son of Man who was to die representing the humanity of Jesus." Jesus the man, having received the ultimate High Priesthood was to both suffer and die to reconcile God to man.
My dear brothers and sisters, let's not forget that just as there is a part of us that yearns to journey as the magi to find and claim Christ, there's also another part of us which, like Herod, wants things forever comfortable, forever under control, forever stagnant. Yet we can and must overcome such desires--within ourselves and within our church--if we are to follow in the example of our brother Jesus and be daily, living epiphanies.
And finally, it is important to note that the journey of the magi doesn't end at the feet of the infant Jesus, but back in their homelands where, gifted with new, deeper insight and with gifts of discernment and creativity, they are called like us, to manifest Christ. To manifest, in other words, the consciousness and love that is gained as a result of our journeying with one another and with the God who walks in our midst.
Let us reflect on this mystery today as we celebrate the Magi coming from pagan lands to worship the new-born Jesus while God’s “chosen people” in Jerusalem sleep unaware that the kingdom of God has come.
With the Magi, let us worship the Lord! With Mary, let us present our offering, that of ourselves to the almighty so that we will go back home with a different way and as a changed person.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Today when we celebrate the feast of Epiphany we need to ask ourselves, who actually got to find Jesus? Herod and his scribes who had the scriptures failed to find Jesus but the magi who followed the natural light of the stars were able to find him. Why? Because the Jewish authorities, even though they possessed the shining truth of revealed scriptures, did not follow it. They did not walk in the light of the scriptures. The magi, on the other hand, who enjoyed only a star light followed its guidance. By the fact we are baptized and if we are not practicing the catholic faith we are not going to inherit the Kingdom of God. It is not the possession of the truth that matters, it is how prepared we are to walk in the light of the truth that we possess. It is better to have the dim light of the stars and follow it than to have the bright light of the Holy Scriptures and neglect it.
The word "epiphany" means,"a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something or the appearance or manifestation of a divine being"
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus, that is the manifestation of the Divine Son to the nations of the world.
In the Old Testament, the Jewish people believed that they were the exclusive people of God. They divided the whole world into two: Jews who were the people of God, and Gentiles who were not. Some of their prophets and wise men tried to correct this belief by reminding them of the universal love of God for all humankind. This is the message of the gospel that God commissioned Paul to preach: “that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).
Today we remember the Magi who came from faraway lands to worship the baby Jesus. They came guided by a star. Being nature worshippers who had no scriptures, God revealed Himself to them through the means available to them in their own religion. Through the stars they were able to learn of the birth of Jesus and find their way to him. They came as pagans, they worshipped Jesus as pagans, and they went back home as pagans. They did not convert either to Judaism or to Christianity. Their worship was acceptable to God and God directed them in their journey home through a dream. They went back home another way. Whoever meet the Lord can not walk on the same way. The conversion will happen. Those who meet Jesus in their lives will change their way. If not they have not yet met Jesus.
I think that the reason that we call the Magi "wise men" is because they had the wisdom to "return to their own country by a different route." In my own journey, I have to admit that I returned to Herod many times before I was wise enough to take a different route home.
The story of the searching magi serves as a fitting and powerful metaphor for our journey to Christic consciousness. I picture the magi as a caravan--comprising people of all races, genders, colors and orientations, bearing their gifts of self, their gifts of symbols; encouraged and empowered by a deep longing for consciousness and wholeness--a desire that ultimately protects them and us from the unconscious, life-numbing states of being that fear and resist growth and change; states of being that are ultimately egocentric, corrupt and greedy. In today's gospel reading, King Herod serves to illustrate such a state of being and its destructive and life-denying characteristics.
You may remember that the first Christmas Nativity scene, Crib presepio or crèche was made by St Francis of Assisi around 1220 in the town of Greccio near Assisi. He used real animals to create a living scene so that the worshippers could contemplate the birth of the child Jesus in a direct way, making use of the senses, especially sight.
If you pay attention to these magi. There are lot of things to learn. In the late third century Origen gave the kings the names by which we now know them: Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar.
The "Three Kings" comes from two elements: the number of gifts given, and a passage from Psalms 72, which describes three kings (of Tarshish, Sheba, and Seba) offering gifts and giving praise to God.
Often they represented the three continents of the known world: Europe, Asia and Africa. His dark skin identifies the African king, but the Asian king was represented by a complicated hat or turban, often placed on the ground in the front of the painting for emphasis.
The kings frequently were used to represent three ages of man and are painted as a youth, a middle-aged man and an old man with a grey beard.
This understanding of the gifts (as symbols declaring Jesus as king, God, and suffering redeemer) goes back to the second century. Eventually, the gifts also came to symbolize our Christian response: gold represents virtue, incense represents prayer, and myrrh depicts our own suffering for Christ.
In addition to names, we even get physical descriptions of the magi from a treatise that was written around 700. Entitled Excerpta et Collectanea, it hints that the magi represent different races:
"The first is said to have been Melchior, an old man with white hair and a long beard ... who offered gold to the Lord as to a king representing the divinity of Jesus. The second, Gaspar by name, young and beardless and ruddy complexioned ... honored him as God by his gift of incense, an oblation worthy of divinity and prayer and worship. The third, black-skinned and heavily bearded, named Balthazar ... by his gift of myrrh testified to the Son of Man who was to die representing the humanity of Jesus." Jesus the man, having received the ultimate High Priesthood was to both suffer and die to reconcile God to man.
My dear brothers and sisters, let's not forget that just as there is a part of us that yearns to journey as the magi to find and claim Christ, there's also another part of us which, like Herod, wants things forever comfortable, forever under control, forever stagnant. Yet we can and must overcome such desires--within ourselves and within our church--if we are to follow in the example of our brother Jesus and be daily, living epiphanies.
And finally, it is important to note that the journey of the magi doesn't end at the feet of the infant Jesus, but back in their homelands where, gifted with new, deeper insight and with gifts of discernment and creativity, they are called like us, to manifest Christ. To manifest, in other words, the consciousness and love that is gained as a result of our journeying with one another and with the God who walks in our midst.
Let us reflect on this mystery today as we celebrate the Magi coming from pagan lands to worship the new-born Jesus while God’s “chosen people” in Jerusalem sleep unaware that the kingdom of God has come.
With the Magi, let us worship the Lord! With Mary, let us present our offering, that of ourselves to the almighty so that we will go back home with a different way and as a changed person.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
I thank You with my whole heart for being there for me
10 Years of Grace
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken” (Isaiah 54:10). Today I thank God at this 10th Anniversary of my priestly ordination for that unshakable love. I thank you all for keeping me in your prayers and I know from different parts of the world people are daily praying for me. My priestly life is a life of blessing. I never lacked anything in my life. Anything means literally anything. God provides everything in my life even what I wished for not only which I asked for. I wonder days and days How he knows that I wished for it. That is my God whom I dedicate my whole life. He took me around and gave me strength to do everything. He put the courage and strength in me to do the things I never did before. I knew it is not I but he is in control. And I never failed and I know I will never ever. I never regretted to be a priest. And I pray that God will allow me to die as a priest. When I was so young I use to pray to my Mother Mary. “Mother Mary, if you wish make me a favorite priest of You and your Son Jesus.” Galatians 2:20 says “ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
Eucharist is the fundamental way of being of the priest. For the priest, the Liturgy is not only a rite which symbolically encapsulates the life, death and resurrection of the Lord. The re-enactment, the re-presentation of the mighty deeds of the Savior is not one more administrative act of the priest. It is the very core of who he is; in it he sees objectively and vividly the meaning of his own person, his own heart and soul, his life and ministry.
If people seek out the priest for advice and solace, if they sense something special in his presence, if they look to him for inspiration and leadership, it is ultimately because they believe that the power of Christ the Priest, the power of Christ the Eucharist dwells within and shapes the contours of his being.
They intuit that twin-identity in him of priesthood and Eucharist, and they long to receive from him that same love, that same forgiveness and that same self-surrender which brought Jesus to give birth to both on the night before he died.
In the last 10years, the Lord has given me many things to do in many different places of this beautiful world.
Like a psychotic version of the beloved in the Song of Songs, I run searching for the one my soul loves when, all the time, he is within me, “peering in through the lattice” of my soul.
Life can be seen as the process of converting from having what you want to wanting what you have, what you have been given.
All of it, except my sin, has been grace upon grace upon grace. I have no other purpose in life, nor do I want any.
What I do want, is so to be configured to Christ the priest, that in seeing me you will see the Eucharist, you will remember the One who said, “Do this in memory of me”: I will be a living, walking memory of the Last Supper. Priesthood is not about being worthy, but about surrendering to the Lamb who alone is worthy. Many of my friends had been left the priesthood. And I know I am still a priest not because I am good but because of His Mercy and grace. The only reason I have managed is because Christ’s fidelity is stronger than my infidelity.
"Praise the Lord for he is good" (Ps 136/136,1). "I will praise the Lord all my life" (Ps 145/146, 2).
Benedict XVI spoke of the Sacrament of Holy Orders to a large gathering of Priests in Rome. "Let us reflect once again on the signs in which the Sacrament has been given to us. At the centre is the very ancient rite of the imposition of hands, with which he took possession of me, saying to me: "You belong to me". However, in saying this he also said: "You are under the protection of my hands. You are under the protection of my heart. You are kept safely in the palm of my hands, and this is precisely how you find yourself in the immensity of my love. Stay in my hands, and give me yours". (Homily of Pope Benedict XVI - Holy Thursday 2006).
Pope Benedict XVI said; "Being a priest means becoming an ever closer friend of Jesus Christ with the whole of our existence".
We all depend very much on your prayers. And do, please, pray for vocations to the Priesthood so that the Lord may choose from among your families young men who will be prepared to give their lives, their hands and their hearts in the service of His People and the on-going Redemption of mankind.
I whole heartedly thank you all for being there for me as one of my family. May God bless you all!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Staffs of St Stephen's Church
I have no words to thank them for all what they are to me. I just love them.
10 years of aboundance of Grace
10th Anniversary of My Priestly ordination January 5, 2007
Thanks for prayerfully supporting me and caring for me. God will provide everything for those who put trust in Him. He is now showering His grace. Just accept His blessings.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year 2007
Happy New Year To You
One More Year to bear fruits in our Tree of Life
“The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.” (Num.6:22-27).
Happy new year my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
The name "January" comes from the Roman god Janus, the god with two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking to the future. This is indeed a time to look back at the year that has just ended and to look forward to the New Year ahead of us.
We do need to review our lives from year to year because, as Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living.
The gospel today presents Mary to us as a model of that new life in Christ that all of us wish for ourselves in the new year. There we see that Mary was prepared to do something to realize this goal. What did she do? We read that the shepherds, when they went to adore the Child Jesus in the manger, told all that the angels had said to them. "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Again after the boy Jesus was found in the Temple, we are told that "His mother treasured all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:51). Mary was a woman who valued the word of God, who treasured it and made time to meditate and ponder it. It is true that the holiness of Mary is attributed to the grace of God, but this should not make us forget that she needed to make an effort in order to cooperate with the grace of God. She pondered the word of God in order to discern what God was saying to her at every stage in her life as the handmaid of God. Let us today resolve to listen more to the voice of God, to treasure God's word and ponder it in our hearts. Then shall we be able to realize our New Year resolution of a new life in union with God.
As the New Year begins, let us see this year as another chance given to us to get it right, to grow in familiarity with God our loving Father, and to grow in our awareness of ourselves as God’s beloved children. Put more goodness in all that you do in all places so that the bad will not overcome the good.
Let me suggest some New Year resolutions. First and last and always, there must be prayer. Daily, we must seek the gift of true peace from the Prince of Peace, asking the help of Mary, His Mother and ours. I strongly encourage the prayer of the Rosary each day. Take Mary with you wherever you may go. Invite her into your whole life known and unknown. If Mary is there for you, then she will notice what is lacking in your life and she will ask her Son to give to you. We never know when our wine will get over. But Mary will knew when it happens to us if she is invited in our life like at the wedding at Cana.
Secondly, Recall St. Paul’s advice to us this past Sunday on the Feast of the Holy Family: "Put on … heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another" (Col 3:12-13). Of all these concrete gestures of peace, forgiveness is the most difficult for us to do.
Have A New Attitude for A New Year. Some great people of history have had something to say about this. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Winston Churchill said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference”. Albert Einstein added, “In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity”. Every New Year provides fresh opportunities for personal change and growth.
Is your glass half full or is it half empty? As you begin a new year, your interior attitude about the events that shape your life will determine your success throughout this year and even your physical health.
Last but one. End all negative self-talk. What is self-talk? Self-talk is the endless torrent of thoughts that run through your mind every day. These habitual thoughts can be positive or negative. If these thoughts are negative, then your outlook on life will be pessimistic.
A plaque hangs on Arnold Palmer’s office wall with these words: “If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you'd like to win but think you can't, it's almost certain you won't. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can”.
Finally, Be courageous to face the life problems. If you start running from the problems of life you may not have time to rest. Have trust in God and believe that God will be always with us until the end of time. Like St Paul asks. If God is with us who can be against us? If you say yes to the will of God, God will give the courage to fulfill it.
Indeed, it is appropriate to begin a new year with Mary, the Mother of God, for we are to bring Christ to the world as she did. No better resolution could any disciple of the Lord make than to imitate His Holy Mother and bear Him — bring Him — into each day of 2007. Happy New Year.
“The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.” (Num.6:22-27).
Happy new year my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
The name "January" comes from the Roman god Janus, the god with two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking to the future. This is indeed a time to look back at the year that has just ended and to look forward to the New Year ahead of us.
We do need to review our lives from year to year because, as Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living.
The gospel today presents Mary to us as a model of that new life in Christ that all of us wish for ourselves in the new year. There we see that Mary was prepared to do something to realize this goal. What did she do? We read that the shepherds, when they went to adore the Child Jesus in the manger, told all that the angels had said to them. "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Again after the boy Jesus was found in the Temple, we are told that "His mother treasured all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:51). Mary was a woman who valued the word of God, who treasured it and made time to meditate and ponder it. It is true that the holiness of Mary is attributed to the grace of God, but this should not make us forget that she needed to make an effort in order to cooperate with the grace of God. She pondered the word of God in order to discern what God was saying to her at every stage in her life as the handmaid of God. Let us today resolve to listen more to the voice of God, to treasure God's word and ponder it in our hearts. Then shall we be able to realize our New Year resolution of a new life in union with God.
As the New Year begins, let us see this year as another chance given to us to get it right, to grow in familiarity with God our loving Father, and to grow in our awareness of ourselves as God’s beloved children. Put more goodness in all that you do in all places so that the bad will not overcome the good.
Let me suggest some New Year resolutions. First and last and always, there must be prayer. Daily, we must seek the gift of true peace from the Prince of Peace, asking the help of Mary, His Mother and ours. I strongly encourage the prayer of the Rosary each day. Take Mary with you wherever you may go. Invite her into your whole life known and unknown. If Mary is there for you, then she will notice what is lacking in your life and she will ask her Son to give to you. We never know when our wine will get over. But Mary will knew when it happens to us if she is invited in our life like at the wedding at Cana.
Secondly, Recall St. Paul’s advice to us this past Sunday on the Feast of the Holy Family: "Put on … heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another" (Col 3:12-13). Of all these concrete gestures of peace, forgiveness is the most difficult for us to do.
Have A New Attitude for A New Year. Some great people of history have had something to say about this. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Winston Churchill said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference”. Albert Einstein added, “In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity”. Every New Year provides fresh opportunities for personal change and growth.
Is your glass half full or is it half empty? As you begin a new year, your interior attitude about the events that shape your life will determine your success throughout this year and even your physical health.
Last but one. End all negative self-talk. What is self-talk? Self-talk is the endless torrent of thoughts that run through your mind every day. These habitual thoughts can be positive or negative. If these thoughts are negative, then your outlook on life will be pessimistic.
A plaque hangs on Arnold Palmer’s office wall with these words: “If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you'd like to win but think you can't, it's almost certain you won't. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can”.
Finally, Be courageous to face the life problems. If you start running from the problems of life you may not have time to rest. Have trust in God and believe that God will be always with us until the end of time. Like St Paul asks. If God is with us who can be against us? If you say yes to the will of God, God will give the courage to fulfill it.
Indeed, it is appropriate to begin a new year with Mary, the Mother of God, for we are to bring Christ to the world as she did. No better resolution could any disciple of the Lord make than to imitate His Holy Mother and bear Him — bring Him — into each day of 2007. Happy New Year.
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