Sunday, September 30, 2007

Preparation And feast of St Therese of Lisieux


“St. Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower"
1873-1897


Matthew Chapter 18:1-6 “At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Therese Martin was born in Alencon France on January 2, 1873, the youngest of nine children of Louis Stanislaus Martin and Marie Zélie Guérin. On January 4 she was baptized, receiving the name of Marie Françoise Thérèse. Her father, Louis, was a successful watchmaker and jeweler. Four of Therese's siblings died at a young age; the remaining five girls eventually all entered the convent. Four became contemplative Carmelite Nuns at the Lisieux Carmel, and one became a Visitation sister.
She experienced a profound conversion on Christmas eve, 1886, at the age of 13. She felt a call to enter Carmel as a contemplative Nun, so that she could give herself totally to Jesus. But she was too young. Therese was rejected to get the admission in the convent because she was not of age. But Therese went to Rome with her father to seek the consent of the Holy Father, Leo XIII. He preferred to leave the decision in the hands of the superior, who finally consented and on 9 April, 1888, at the unusual age of fifteen, Thérèse Martin entered the convent of Lisieux.
On September 30, 1897 she was 24 when she died of tuberculosis. Although most of us know her as Thérèse of Lisieux, or as the Little Flower, her religious name was Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face.Therese offers the wisdom of the gospel: live in love and you will be transformed. As Therese once put it: life is a process of "transforming nothingness into fire".
St.Thérèse’s doctrine, known to us as “the little way of spiritual childhood.” Is based on complete and unshakeable confidence in God’s love for us. This confidence means that we cannot be afraid of God even though we sin, for we know that, being human, sin we shall but, provided that after each fall, we stumble to our feet again and continue our advance to God, He will instantly forgive us and come to meet us. St. Thérèse does not minimize the gravity of sin, but she insists that we must not be crushed by it. . . . God’s love for us must be matched, within our human limitations, by our love for Him. . . . Now this interchange of love does away with the feeling that to please God we must do great and extraordinary things.
To explore her doctrine let us focus on Thérèse’s realism.
Thérèse’s Realism
Thérèse was a realist. She was neither an optimist who saw the cup as half-full nor a pessimist who saw it as half-empty. She wanted to experience life with no illusions, seeing and knowing the truth about God, herself, and others. The basic thing for the holiness is to know oneself. When St Paul knew him well he became more and more holy. She didn’t shy away from tough questions. From a young age, a thorny theological problem presented itself to Thérèse. “For a long time,” she wondered “why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace.” Instead of dismissing, ignoring, or suppressing the question, she confronted it with a childlike openness. Jesus “set the book of nature before her and she. . . realized that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay.”
During her lifetime, Thérèse experienced many periods of spiritual dryness where she was acutely aware of God’s absence. She completely embraced these periods with no sugar coating.
Thérèse also had a keen sense of her self—her virtues as well as her faults. She was also fully aware of her shortcomings. At several points in her autobiography, she tells of her struggles with self-love. This realism—this knowledge—provides a key component to the development of her doctrine because knowing, intimately, her own weakness—her own sin—and knowing that she lacked the strength to do anything about it caused her to fall into the merciful arms of God with a heart full of gratitude.
Thérèse continued to worry about how she could achieve holiness in the life she led. She didn't want to just be good, she wanted to be a saint. She thought there must be a way for people living hidden, little lives like hers. " I have always wanted to become a saint. I told myself: God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new.
"We live in an age of inventions. We need no longer climb laboriously up flights of stairs; in well-to-do houses there are lifts/elevators. And I was determined to find a lift to carry me to Jesus, for I was far too small to climb the steep stairs of perfection. So I sought in Holy Scripture some idea of what this life I wanted would be, and I read these words: "Whosoever is a little one, come to me." It is your arms, Jesus, that are the lift to carry me to heaven. And so there is no need for me to grow up: I must stay little and become less and less."
So my dear brothers and sisters, Jesus does not demand great deeds. All He wants is self-surrender and gratitude.” Thérèse’s extraordinariness lies in her ordinariness, and it is there for us also if we only have the eyes to see. I Hope you all remember what Blessed Mother Therese of Calcutta said “The Greatest fulfillment is in doing God’s will. We do not have to do great things, only small things with great love. We do not have to be extraordinary in any way, I can do what you can’t do and you can do what I can’t do. Together we can do something beautiful for God”.
St Therese of Lisieux said “What Matters in Life is not great deeds but great Love”


First Day Sept 26, 2007



Thérèse’s Love for God and for saving Souls

Mathew 11:25-30 At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

My Dear Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

We try to make the spiritual life so complicated. We think that we have to do all these extraordinary things. And here is a young woman who was not complicated; she went into a Carmelite monastery when she was 15; she did not work great miracles; she did not do extraordinary things. She was just a young woman with the most intense and incredible love for God. Because she had that kind of love for God, so too, she had that kind of love for other souls. Burning with this love for God and for neighbor has made her this incredible saint.
Thérèse had a deep relation and love towards God. In response to His love, she replied: “Now I wish for only one thing—to love Jesus even unto folly! . . . I’ve finished all other work except that of love. In that is all my delight.”
The apostle explains how even all the most perfect gifts are nothing without love and that charity is the most excellent way of going safely to God. I had found peace at last. I realized that love includes all vocations, that love is all things, and that, because it is eternal, it embraces every time and place.
She cried: “Jesus, my love! At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love! . . . I will be love. So I shall be everything and so my dreams will be fulfilled.” In her weakness, she dared give herself completely to Jesus and His mission.
It was Thérèse’s love for God that reflected so clearly in her dedication to souls: in the silence of her cloister, the flame of love in Thérèse’s heart inspired her with an ever-increasing zeal for souls. She yearned to save souls. Her zeal, however, was always in accordance with her Little Way. She knew that "the most ordinary sacrifices, if made for love of God, delight His Divine Heart." Her aim was the salvation of souls; and for this end she offered her most ordinary actions — even the picking up of a pin — as acts of love to God’s most Merciful Love. Her smallest actions were laden with eternal life.
This zeal for the salvation of souls grew ever more intense, and, in her mind, there echoed the words of the dying Savior: "I thirst", enkindling "a hitherto-unknown and very ardent fire" of love in her heart. She longed to quench the thirst for souls.
A hard-hearted bandit, seducer, and murderer, named Pranzini, was the first to benefit by her consuming zeal. All the newspapers of the time recounted a threefold shocking murder committed by this miserable criminal, who had been condemned to the scaffold and deserved it on many counts. she started praying for the conversion of this man. Her faith did not falter, but, in order to gain courage in her quest for souls, she turned to Heaven and prayed in her characteristically simple and confident way: "My God, I am quite sure Thou wilt pardon this miserable Pranzini; I should believe this even if he did not confess his sins nor give any sign of contrition, because I have confidence in Thy unbounded Mercy. But as he is my first sinner, I beg for a sign of repentance for my own consolation."
God answered her prayers and granted her wish “On the threshold of the prison, the assassin looked deadly pale. The chaplain went before him, to hide the hideous guillotine from view; others were helping him along. He pushed aside the priest and the executioners. When he came to the block, Diebler pushed him down. But before that, his conscience was evidently touched by sudden repentance, for he asked the chaplain for his crucifix, which he kissed three times."
"Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love." She took every chance to sacrifice, no matter how small it would seem. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining--so that she was often given the worst leftovers. One time she was accused of breaking a vase when she was not at fault. Instead of arguing she sank to her knees and begged forgiveness. These little sacrifices cost her more than bigger ones, for these went unrecognized by others. No one told her how wonderful she was for these little secret humiliations and good deeds.
When we think about the saints, we often think about all their miracles and all the wonderful things that they did. But when we look at Saint Therese, we learn that all we need to do is be the best husband and father, the best wife and mother; whatever your tasks happen to be in life, it is to do it in the best way that you can. But it is not merely a matter of doing it in a perfectionist way; it is a matter of doing it out of love. For those who try to make the spiritual life difficult, Saint Therese was able to bring it down and capsulate it and just simply say, "Love." That is all. If you do everything out of love, that is all that is required. It is very, very simple. But, of course, we make it difficult. We need to struggle against our own inclinations towards selfishness because that the opposite of love. If we are willing to do the little tasks of our daily life with the greatest of love, they become the most extraordinary and most wonderful things in the world. And it will bring many souls to God and give Him the greatest glory because we are doing His Will, and we are doing it with His love.
Saint Augustine basically made the point sixteen hundred years ago when he said, Love, and do what you will, because as Saint Paul says, Love never wrongs the neighbor. If we love we will not sin because love always seeks the good of the other. But the point Saint Therese is making is that if you want to be a great saint it is very simple-a little way – and it is just love.”
"Be not afraid to tell Jesus that you love Him; even though it be without feeling, this is the way to oblige Him to help you, and carry you like a little child too feeble to walk."Love is repaid by love alone."
“The only thing I really wish for ...Is to love until I die of love.” ~ St. Thérèse.


Second Day Sept 27,2007


Suffering in the life of St Therese

Mathew5:4-11 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted .Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven.

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

Sanctity lies not in saying beautiful things, or even in thinking them, or feeling them; it lies in truly being willing to suffer. Life passes so quickly that it is better to have a most splendid crown in heaven and a little suffering than an ordinary crown and no suffering.
St.Thérèse never founded a religious order; she never performed great works and never went on missions, but she understood that what matters in the Christian life is not great deeds, but great love, and that anyone can achieve the heights of holiness by doing even the smallest things well for love of God."All is well," she wrote, “when one seeks only the will of Jesus." St. Thérèse is a reminder to all of us who feel we can do nothing, that it is the little things that keep God's kingdom growing.
At the beginning of her autobiography, St. Therese tells: she opens the Gospels and finds these words in Luke 3:13, "And going up a mountain, he called to him people of his own choosing and they came to him." Therese then goes on, "This is the mystery of my vocation, my whole life, and especially the mystery of the privileges Jesus showered upon my soul. He does not call those who are worthy, but those whom He pleases."
On the night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday in 1896, Therese experienced her first hemoptysis (spitting up of blood) from tuberculosis. Over the next 18 months, her condition steadily deteriorated.
The disease was developing-constant vomiting, suffocation, loss of consciousness. Still Teresa struggled on. "I can't breathe and I can't die," and so hanging between life and death she renewed her offering, "I am quite willing to go on suffering." At the last moment of her life on earth she turned again to her crucifix: "I love him.... O God, I love you... that was her last word. Then offering her sufferings for the salvation of souls, Teresa closed her eyes, and died of tuberculosis. It was about twenty past seven in the evening of September 30, 1897; she was twenty-four years and nine months old. In the months prior to her death, she prayed for the grace to "spend my heaven doing good on earth" and promised that after her death she would send "a shower of roses" from heaven.
The whole convent knew that Sister Teresa was going to die. She heard the kitchen-sister wondering what the mother prioress would find to write in her obituary notice. "She came here, she lived here, she was taken ill, and she died," and that indeed was all there was to be said-except that those things were or would be done in the perfection of charity.
She was beatified on April 29, 1923; St. Therese was solemnly canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925. On December 14, 1927, Pope Pius XI proclaimed St. Therese Principal Patroness, equal to St. Francis Xavier, of all missionaries, men and women, and of the missions in the whole world. On May 3, 1944, Pope Pius XII named St. Therese Secondary Patroness of France, equal to St. Joan of Arc.
Pope John Paul II named St. Therese a Doctor of the Church on October 19, 1997, World Mission Sunday. She became only the third woman in the Church to be so honored as Doctors, joining St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Jesus, co-foundress of the Discalced Carmelites.
St Ignatius Loyola says: “If the Lord sends you great tribulations, it is evidence that He has great designs upon you, and that He wills that you become a saint. There is no wood more proper to enkindle and feed the fire of divine love than the wood of the cross.”
Sufferings and afflictions are a token of God’s love; “for”, as St Paul tells, “whom the Lord loves He chastise. God deals with you as with His sons; for what son is there, whom the father does not correct?” Heb.12:6, 7.
The grandest music of the Human heart breaks forth in the day of trial; the sweetest songs are sung in sorrow; the best things in character are developed in the time of afflictions.
Shelley wrote: “Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought”.
Jesus’ golden promise afterward to St Paul was: “I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” Acts 9: 16
How blind then we are if we believe that every suffering is a calamity and a proof of God’s wrath; and that prosperity, and nothing but prosperity, is a sure sign of His favor!
a) He sends suffering in His mercy to atone here for past sin, to do here quickly the slow work of purgatory.
b) He sends suffering also to prevent sin; and to draw us out of sin, as suffering brought the prodigal son him to Him.
c) Lastly He sends suffering to His Chosen ones, as to St Paul; and these chosen ones then become, like Himself, Savior unto many.
When God sends suffering to St Francis Xavier he would exclaim” Still more, My God, Still more”.
St Vincent De Paul my patron Saint whose feast we celebrated on September 27 writes: “If we know the precious treasure which is hidden in our infirmities, we would receive them with the same joy that we receive the greatest benefits, and we would bear them without complaining.”

I suffer much but do I suffer well? That is the important thing.

The End


Third Day


Feast of Little Flower
We all know all about her, how Therese Martin was born on January 2, 1873 to a middle-class family in Lisieux, , at the age of 15 ,in 1889, she entered the cloistered Carmelite convent, she took the name "Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face;" she became the mistress of novices; she contracted TB and died at age 24, on September 30, 1897, saying her last words, "My God, I love you." She became the 33rd Doctor in the history of Church. The Little Therese – whom Pius XI on February 11th 1923 called "God’s word to the world of today" giving us a great lesion on her feast day to be like little children if you wish to grow in holiness.
In the Gospel reading today, Our Lord tells us very clearly that unless we become like little children we will not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. To be as a child, that means, to have complete confidence Loving God.
What does it mean to be a child in practical terms?
Little children do not worry about whether they are going to have a meal; they just assume that they will. They do not worry about whether they are going to have a roof over their head but nonetheless they have confidence that all of these things are going to be taken care of. They just go. They just move on from one thing to the next and they do not worry about all the little things. That is the same kind of confidence we have to have. She explained: "To be little means that we do not attribute to ourselves the virtues we practice, as if we were capable of any good; we recognize that God has placed this treasure in the hand of His little child and that the treasure is always His ... To be little means that we are never discouraged at our faults, for, although children often fall, they are too small to hurt themselves seriously."
Any of you who are parents know how children are. They do not go very far from Mom and they make sure they pay a visit quite often. They are off playing all by themselves; they come back racing over, grab her by the legs, go back, and play. A few minutes later, they come racing back, just want to sit on her lap for thirty seconds, and off they go to play again. They are constantly coming back. How many times a day do we check in with Our Lord? How far do we go away from the Lord? Little children always want to be right in the sight of their mother. They do not even like to be in the next room.We need to keep God always in our presence. No matter where we are, He is in our hearts if we are in the state of grace, but we need to keep our minds focused on Him.
That is the way God wants us to live and that is what we learn from our little Saint of today – how to be like a little child in the arms of God.
To be a child means not to worry - the Father is doing all the worrying. To be a child means to enjoy what you are given because everything is a grace, everything is a gift given to you not because you deserve it but because God is good.
To be a child means accepting and using even your failings and your sins. "Look at kids," she writes to Celine, "they break things, they tear up paper, they fall even if they love their parents and their parents keep loving them all the same." If the dad calls him, the child does not bother to clean himself before running to embrace him.
To be a child means to rely on someone else. On a Father who is powerful and good. And to be happy about it! Sometimes the child goes to the well of life to draw water. The bucket is too heavy. He tries and tries because there is often stubbornness. The child thinks, "Of course I am strong and can surely do it, all alone." He cannot. He realizes this and turns to the Father with a smile that says, "I give up." The large arms move. One holds the hands of the child and the other the rope. Slowly the two pull up the bucket. "So we did it,", the Father tells the child. That's God!
A simple story to conclude. When Schia was 4 years old, her baby brother was born. Little Schia began to ask her parents to leave her alone with the new baby. They worried that, like most 4-year-olds, she might want to hit or shake him, so they said no. Over time, though, since Schia wasn't showing signs of jealousy, they changed their minds and decided to let Schia have her private conference with the baby. Elated, Schia went into the baby's room and shut the door, but it opened a crack - enough for her curious parents to peek in and listen. They saw little Schia walk quietly up to her baby brother, put her face close to his, and say, "Baby, tell me what God feels like. I'm starting to forget."
Perhaps we have grown older and have forgotten how God is like. Therese tells us today that it is not too late to return and enter the kingdom of God like a little child (Mark 10:15).
The End

Saturday, September 29, 2007

The Rich Man and Lazarus

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Imagine this scene. A man dies and arrives before the Judgment Seat of God. The divine Judge goes through the Book of Life and does not find the man’s name. So He announces to the man that his place is in hell. The man protests, he was screaming “But what did I do? I did nothing!” “Precisely,” replies God, “that is why you are going to hell.” You did nothing for the good of others.

Life is like a bus ride. We move forward with our bags packed, hoping that when the bus stops and the door opens; we will be at the right location. We must remember the fundamental truth of Revelation: eternity consists of three states: heaven, purgatory and hell. To deny the existence of purgatory and hell is to deny Christianity. To tell people that everyone is going to heaven is to deprive them of the truth. It is a lie to tell people that everyone is saved.
One day each of us will stand before God for judgment. We will stand before God without a lawyer and without family and friends to support us. We will stand alone before Almighty God. Each day could be our last day on earth. We should each ask ourselves each day, if I were to die today, how would God judge me? Is there any particular sin, attachment, or attitude that might be an obstacle to my eternal salvation?
I know you may be wondering why the rich man had to go to hell! We are not told he acquired his wealth by foul means. We are not told he was responsible for the poverty and misery of Lazarus. In fact we are not even told that Lazarus begged from him and he refused to help. We are not told he committed any crime or evil deed. All we are told is that he was feeding and clothing well as any other successful human being has a right to do. Why then did he go to hell?
The problem we have pinpointing the reason why the rich man went to hell has a lot to do with what we think sin is. We often think that we sin only by thought, word and deed. We forget a fourth and very important way through which we sin, namely, by omission. In the prayer “I Confess to Almighty God” we say these words: “I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.” Yet how readily we forget the sin of omission. Today’s parable reminds us that the sin of omission can land someone in hell. This is what happens to the rich man. If you are not doing what you could do for God and neighbor then it is your sin of omission.
Another problem we have with this parable is why Lazarus went to heaven. In biblical stories of this nature, names are very significant because they often convey the person’s basic character or personality. In fact this is the only parable of Jesus where the character in the story has a name. So the name must be significant for interpreting this parable.
The name “Lazarus” is the Hellenised form of the Hebrew name “Eleazar” which means “God is my help.” Lazarus, therefore, is not just a poor man, but a poor man who believes and trusts in God. This must be why he found himself in Abraham’s bosom in Paradise — because of his faith and trust in God, not just because he was poor.
The good news of this parable is this: If you feel, my dear brothers and sisters, like a Lazarus right now, battered by sickness, poverty and pain, forgotten by society and by those whom God has blessed in this life, continue believing and trusting in God knowing that it will be well with your soul in the end. If you see yourself as one of those blessed by God with the good things of life, open your door and see. Probably there is a Lazarus lying at your gates and you have not taken notice.
It saddens me to see so many people walk around as if they were lifeless, without joy and without meaning in their lives. I have noticed that it is hard to find people who smile, who say hello, who extend the hand of friendship.
There is a story about a pastor who told his parishioners that there was good news and bad news. The good news is that the parish had enough money to do anything that it wanted to. The bad news was that the money is still in their pockets.
You and me, we miss out a lot. We don’t do things that we really ought to do. We fail to bear good fruit. We are not using the talents the gifts our wealth our time for the greater Glory of God. These are sins of omission.
The sin of the rich man was the sin of omission - failing to respond to human tragedy when he could have made a difference. He remained uninvolved, disinterested. His words would have been, “it’s no concern of mine.”
Yes dear brothers and sisters, you and I are part of the Gospel story today. We are the five brothers of the rich man.
God is the creator and the owner of the whole world. "Rich people are the stewards of God's riches," says St. John Chrysostom. How beautiful is the Arabic expression, when someone is asked about his or her possessions: "Al mulq lilLah! Ownership belongs to God." We read in Psalm 24: "The Lord's is the earth and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it." (Psalm 24:1) St. Basil said: "The superfluous money of the rich is the property of the poor." We hear the echo of this same truth in the famous inaugural speech of President John F. Kennedy: The society which cannot care for its poor cannot protect its rich. Even the poor are not exempted from caring and helping other poor. One good image of Christ's charity is "a beggar telling another beggar where to find food." No one is too poor to help someone else in some way.
Let me ask you my brothers and sisters, if you had the choice between being the rich man and the poor Lazarus, what would you choose? Would you prefer to have and spend all the goods, which belong to you in sumptuous living, or be a miser with no place to live in and no food to eat? Fortunately, there is a third choice. I wish I had all the money of the world, so I could share it with those less fortunate than I. If you were in the place of the rich man, would you have helped the poor Lazarus? Poverty as I told you before is not only lack of Money, but of everything: love, compassion, friendship…How much compassion are we showing to them?
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Friday, September 28, 2007

The Arch Angels

God knows each one of us –– our joys, strengths and weaknesses, our successes and failures, our faith, our intentions, needs, hopes and dreams.
Not only does God know us; He loves us.
But how much do we know God? How much de we love God? We know and love God through prayer, through our ministries, in our religious lives and in our relationships with other people. We know and love God through our participation in the sacraments, through Scripture and meditation and through our studies of theology. We know God through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
But how about knowing and loving God with the help of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, whose feast we celebrate today. Michael, in Jewish meaning ““who is like God,”” appears twice in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. He is the protector of the Chosen Peoples, both Christian and Jew, leader of the Heavenly Host against Satan, and protector of Christians at the hour of death. He is usually shown as a winged warrior subduing the devil and sometimes carries a set of scales for the weighing of the Soul at death.
Gabriel –– his name means ““Strength of God”” or ““Hero of God.”” In the Old Testament he appears twice in the Book of Daniel and in the New Testament he announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias and the birth of Jesus to Mary. In Christian art he is frequently represented as a winged figure, often holding a lily representing purity, bringing the message of the Incarnation to the Virgin Mary.
Raphael –– his name means ““God heals”” so we can ask for his prayers for
healing and recovery. In the Old Testament, the Archangel Raphael appears in the Book of Tobit, where he cures Tobit’’s blindness by instructing the son Tobias to put the gall bladder of a fish on his father’’s eye.
We can ask for St. Michael’’s prayers for spiritual protection and to help us to protect each other. We can ask for St. Gabriel’’s prayers for strength, for courage and to help us to strengthen one other and announce each others’’ goodnesses and gifts. We can also ask for the prayers of St. Raphael to help us to heal each other and comfort each other in time of difficulty and distress.
In honoring the angels we honor God’s power and might. In honoring the angels, the honor our fellow servants. We humans and the angels share the same status before God as servants. However, it is also worthwhile to remember that although we humans are created a little lower than the angels, to use the words of St. Paul, our future will far exceed that of the angels’. The writer C.S. Lewis told a short parable to help illustrate this. Think of a master of a household who has in his house his young child, his heir, and his adult servant. The servant has been given the task to guard, protect, and train the master’s child. Even though the intelligence and the strength of that servant exceeds that of the child, as that child grows and eventually inherits his Father’s house, his status and his power will eventually become more important than the servant.
We are like that child, and the angels the servant. They have been given the task to guard and protect us until such time as Christ returns and we inherit both heaven and earth. They have been charged to look after us because of our importance in God’s eyes.
Let us pray:-
Saint Michael the Archangel,defend us in battle.Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -by the Divine Power of God -cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

Saturday, September 22, 2007


No one can serve both God and Mammon
My dear Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Today it is really a difficult subject to preach on. Money in itself is not the problem here, but "The love of money is the root of all evil," We can not money as another God. We have only One God and there should be no Other God for us.
September 21st we celebrated the feast of St Mathew. Being a tax collector, he wanted to build a name, a fortune or a secure future for himself. He was a talented man skillful with the use of his pen, both in calculating numbers or in writing down words. To him, as any finance man, money could come easy. Then with wealth, he hoped to gain friends. A saying goes that "wealth is relative", that is, with wealth, relatives and friends appear left and right. Mathew’s dream was to reach out to people by means of a successful financial venture. Perhaps, before his face, a few would be friendly with him in view of some favors. Behind his back, he would be hated and verbally stabbed. This is the same case with those who think that with money you can gain the whole world. It is an illusion.
Mathew would have enjoyed his wealth, but there was emptiness within him. He was still worried about his future or the lack of loyal friends. He was secure at his post, but he was uneasy all the time. He was in search of God, a God not so judgmental, legalistic and condemnatory. He longed for a God with a human face. He was aware of his fragility and sinfulness. When Jesus saw and called him, Matthew immediately stood up, left his table and followed Jesus. Joy was written all over his face, even as he had to abandon everything, his wealth and his past. When he denied Money what he thought His God and followed the Real God he received the happiness in Life.
Remember that today is the first day of the rest of your life. And so is tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and so on. We can not take anything with us when we say good bye to all what we have and what we are. What do I need to change so that when it comes time to settle my accounts with God He will commend me for being foresight and prudent and give me the reward He wants so very much to give me? Always remember, there will be a day of reckoning.
From the very beginning of our first reading today, we are hit with the reality of God’s love for the poor and his disdain for those who hurt them.
“Never will I forget,” those who “trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land!”
But who are the needy? Who are the poor of the land?
Poverty is an epidemic brought on by human greed alone, an epidemic St. Augustine addressed again and again during his lifetime.
“If you were giving something that was your own,” he once said, “then [your charity] would be pure largesse, but since you give what is God’s, you are repaying a debt.”
You see, you and I own nothing.
We have possession of some things and by civil law we “own” them. By right, all we are belongs to God and God alone.
Yet, it is not just about the material poor. There are many who are materially wealthy who are also quite poor.
There is poverty of spirit.
Many people walk through life not knowing how to connect to God; people who don’t know that they are children of the God who loved them into being. Reach out to them.
There is poverty of self-worth.
There are many among us who have been told by one or another that they are not “worthy” of attention or love. There are many more who think that they are not “good enough” to even speak of, let alone talk to, God.
There is poverty of kindness.
Rude people are everywhere. The silent treatment abounds. Rumors and Gossip fill minds with worthless drivel.
Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta said “Developed countries suffer from Poverty of understanding, poverty of will, of loneliness, of lack of love and spirit. There is no greater disease in the world today than this.”
God trusts you, here and now, to reach out to the poor and needy; those who have material, spiritual, emotional, and moral needs of every kind. All God asks is that you share a bit of your wealth with others, a bit of your bread with the hungry, a bit of your life with another.
One of Ignatius’ most famous prayer’s is his “Prayer for Generosity”
Lord teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve To give and not to count the cost To fight and not to heed the wounds To toil and not to seek for rest To labor and not to ask for reward Save that of knowing that I do your will.
And ultimately all that we do and all that we are is intended for the greater glory of God. And what could be more glorious than to respond to God and our neighbor with the same love and generosity that God has shared with us.
So what master do you serve? God or money? You cannot serve two masters. So who is yours? Jesus wants us to use our intelligence in order to make good choices.
But who are the rich? The standard American answer is, "People who have more money than I do,"
Ezekiel 16:49has some remarks about Sodom's sin that might surprise you. This was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, more than enough food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
Jesus is clearly warning us that money can enslave us. Cruel master money can be over them that give themselves to it. Money had destroyed the relation, family, friendship even our sleep.
The money-culture presses in on us, afflicting us with "Money-Sickness" and often we don't recognize the symptoms until we are a terminal case.
In the first reading and in the Gospel, the lesson is that people are more important than money. When we mistreat people for the sake of monetary benefit, we harm our relationship with God. On the other hand, the proper use of money in the service of people strengthens our relationship with God. Our God is a God who is waiting for our Love and not for our Money. It is up to us my dear brothers and sisters. Do we want God and peace of Mind or lots of Money in all its sense and all the calamities with it?
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Parable of the Prodigal Elder Son

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

Beautiful story many times we have meditated upon. We may not feel anything new from this parable.
The prodigal son's decision to leave the father's house and to immerse himself into a life of rebellion, clearly illustrates the nature of sin. Every sin is an abuse of human freedom. When we sin, we defy God who loves us unconditionally.
The father did not go in search of the younger son. The son had to make the decision himself to come back. If the father had gone in search of him, no doubt he would have resented it. The son had to make the decision himself, “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18). That is a decision we all have to make, to leave the illusions of happiness that the world offers us and go to our Father. If we follow the illusions of false happiness with which the world tries to seduce us we will end up the pigs in the pigpen. This image of the younger son which the parable offers us is shocking but it is symbol of the mess we could get ourselves into by blindly following the selfishness of the world.
Saints have a past and sinners have a future. When the prodigal son came to his senses with the pigs and decided to return to his father he did not expect his father to treat him again as his son. So he made up his mind that he would ask to become one of his servants. He could not imagine that his father would want him back as his son again. He had a warped understanding of his father’s forgiveness. We have a warped understanding of God’s mercy for us. We make the mistake of thinking that God is like us and so we cannot understand God’s mercy. God made us in his image and likeness and ever since then we are making God in our image and likeness.
Fr. Jack McArdle tells a story about God’s forgiveness. Imagine when you die and Jesus comes to meet you and shows you a video of your entire life. On the video you see all the good things you did. But there are also a number of blanks on the tape. You ask why there are such blanks on the tape of your life. Jesus tells you these were the times when you sinned and asked for God’s mercy. When God forgives he completely blanks out our sins and does not remember.
Mostly we meditate upon the younger son. Let us today think about the mentality of the Older Son. We are not sinners but we are reluctant to participate in the celebration our father is giving to the prodigal sons and daughters, because we think that it is not fair and it is not justice.
Like the Pharisees, he is self-righteous, incapable of love, and therefore, incapable of forgiving anyone. His mind is dark and calculating. It is quite possible that his anger is rooted in the fact that he too would like to leave the father's house and live a life of sin. His life may be pure and noble, but his heart is attached to things that he would like to do, but does not do them because of his vanity and superiority complex.
The elder son, despite the fact that he was with his father all those years, was shocked that his father threw the party. He still didn’t know or understand his father’s heart; maybe the servants understood his father better. The elder son never felt accepted, appreciated or loved by his father. That was his problem. So his resentment towards his younger brother was really pointing to a deeper wound; he did not feel loved. The older son had no real relationship with his father. He was distant and aloof. He was like the Pharisees and scribes who complained about Jesus’ ministry to sinners in Luke 15:2. For years he had done the right thing but with the wrong attitude. “Lo these many years I have served you” (v 29). The elder son didn’t recognize his brother as his brother, “this son of yours” (v30). The elder son has been called the prodigal who stayed at home. He is also lost but his lost-ness is more difficult to see. So the parable is about a loving father and two prodigal sons or two lost sons! We are all like the elder son in the sense that none of us yet knows our Father’s heart as we are called to.
Just like the Pharisees, the older son was obedient, faithful, hard-working…and judgmental. He looked down his nose at anyone who didn’t measure up—even, and maybe especially, his younger brother. Just like the Pharisees, he mistakenly thought that the Father loved him because of his hard work and obedience, and therefore could not possibly love anyone who was disobedient and sinful. Just like the Pharisees, the older son thought it was proper to hate the sin and hate the sinner.
If this parable was set in the 21st century, the older son and the Pharisees would be people who go to church every Sunday; who put generous donations in the basket each week; who don’t go to Las Vegas and squander money on immoral living…and who also hate the sin and hate the sinner.
The key lesson in this week’s gospel reading is that God Almighty—represented by the loving father—hates sin, yes, but loves the sinner. Whenever a sinner repents and seeks forgiveness, God rejoices.
Ironically, both sons are slaves. One became a slave and wanted to be one, while the other acted like a slave. They thought that the key to acceptance by the father was to act as a slave. The father never pointed out the faults of the prodigal but the elder did in saying that he has spent his money on harlots. According to Hebrew custom, the oldest son had the "birthright" and was given a double portion.
The older son may very well have felt that "It’s not fair!" for the younger son to be welcomed back as a son. As a servant, okay; but not as a son. Under Hebrew Law, the older son was now responsible for providing for his destitute younger brother until the younger brother could get back on his feet financially. The father would not re-divide the liquid assets; but Hebrew Law required those that have goods to care for those that have not (Deuteronomy 15:7-11).
The most beautiful line for me in the parable is what the father says to the elder son, “all I have is yours”. Our heavenly Father says to us, “All I have is yours”. This is a most beautiful promise and invitation. We were not told at the end of the parable whether or not the elder son went in to the party. After reading this parable we also have a choice to make, will we stay outside or will we go in to enjoy the Father’s party.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

10th death anniversary of Mother Theresa


Mother Theresa Of Calcutta

DEAR JESUS, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine so to shine as to be a light to others.’ This was a simple prayer Blessed Mother Theresa prayed everyday.
Born on August 26 1910 to Albanian parents in what is now Skopje, Macedonia (then part of the Ottoman Empire), Gonxha (Agnes) Bojaxhiu was the youngest of the three children who survived.
At 18, Gonxha chose the Loreto Sisters of Dublin, missionaries and educators founded in the 17th century to educate young girls.
In 1928, the future Mother Teresa began her religious life in Ireland, far from her family and the life she'd known, never seeing her mother again in this life, speaking a language few understood.
One year later, in 1929, Gonxha was sent to Darjeeling to the novitiate of the Sisters of Loreto. In 1931, she made her first vows there, choosing the name of Teresa, honoring both saints of the same name, Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux. In keeping with the usual procedures of the congregation and her deepest desires, it was time for the new Sister Teresa to begin her years of service to God's people. She was sent to St. Mary's, a high school for girls in a district of Calcutta.
Here she began a career teaching history and geography, which she reportedly did with dedication and enjoyment for the next 15 years. It was in the protected environment of this school for the daughters of the wealthy that Teresa's new "vocation" developed and grew. This was the clear message, the invitation to her "second calling," that Teresa heard on that fateful day in 1946 when she traveled to Darjeeling for retreat.
As for clothing, Teresa decided she would set aside the habit she had worn during her years as a Loreto sister and wear the ordinary dress of an Indian woman: a plain white sari and sandals.
Teresa first went to Patna for a few months to prepare for her future work by taking a nursing course. In 1948 she received permission from Pius XII to leave her community and live as an independent nun. So back to Calcutta she went and found a small hovel to rent to begin her new undertaking.
Wisely, she thought to start by teaching the children of the slums, an endeavor she knew well. Though she had no proper equipment, she made use of what was available—writing in the dirt. She strove to make the children of the poor literate, to teach them basic hygiene. As they grew to know her, she gradually began visiting the poor and ill in their families and others all crowded together in the surrounding squalid shacks, inquiring about their needs.
Teresa found a never-ending stream of human needs in the poor she met, and frequently was exhausted. Despite the weariness of her days she never omitted her prayer, finding it the source of support, strength and blessing for all her ministry.
Until her death in 1997, Mother Teresa continued her work among the poorest of the poor, depending on God for all of her needs. Honors too numerous to mention had come her way throughout the years, as the world stood astounded by her care for those usually deemed of little value. In her own eyes she was "God's pencil—a tiny bit of pencil with which he writes what he likes."
Finally, on September 5, 1997, after finishing her dinner and prayers, her weakened heart gave her back to the God who was the very center of her life
On the beatification homily Pope John paul II said “Her life is a testimony to the dignity and the privilege of humble service. She had chosen to be not just the least but to be the servant of the least. As a real mother to the poor, she bent down to those suffering various forms of poverty. Her greatness lies in her ability to give without counting the cost, to give "until it hurts". Her life was a radical living and a bold proclamation of the Gospel.
The cry of Jesus on the Cross, "I thirst" (Jn 19: 28), expressing the depth of God's longing for man, penetrated Mother Teresa's soul and found fertile soil in her heart.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

22nd Sunday Year C



Humility

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Today’s reading gives us a very difficult theme to reflect upon. I am well aware that I am not the good one to say something on Humility. Humility is modesty versus vanity and pride. Recall the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple. Tax collector prays “I am a sinner.” That is humility. Humility recognizes where our dignity comes from: all has been received from God. We may say that we are humble but let me ask you a question do you have anyone whom you hate or dislike or do not want to talk to or see. Then it is sure you and me are proud not humble.
The Law of the kingdom is ironic: If you give to get a reward; no reward will come. If you give with no reward in mind; a reward is certain; a reward on behalf of God.
Humility is truly the foundation of all the virtues, for even the slightest hint of pride taints all our good works. Pride darkens our hearts, obscures the gospel, and prevents us from seeing the truth about ourselves and others. And pride does not need to be absolute; pride can be subtle and very comfortable, encouraging us to believe the lie that we are self-sufficient and worthy of God’s grace.
Saying you’re humble or thinking of yourself as a modest man is actually a perverted form of pride. The key to humility is to get your eyes off yourself and onto the one from whom and for whom and through whom all things are.
Humility requires one not to overestimate his worth; however, it does not presuppose that one needs to underestimate his self worth either; for that would be self-contempt. We simply admit the truth about ourselves: We do not know everything, we do not do everything right, we are all imperfect and sinners. Only the humble can accept that we are not in charge but God is in-Charge.
When it comes to sin and grace we are all on the same playing field, none of us deserves or earns heaven; it is a gift from God to us won by Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.
Each of us, to a greater or lesser degree is called by Jesus in our Gospel to make that journey from pride to humility.
In a few words, Humility is plainly and simply the proper understanding of our own worth. Those who are proud or boastful or snobs do not realize that everything they have has come from God. None of us has anything that was not given to us by God therefore the only thing each of us can boast of is God. Think about it; we do not have anything that was not given to us by God so why be proud. It is all God’s.
So the problem of pride or lack of humility is not really the problem, the problem is one layer deeper, forgetting that since baptism we are all sons and daughters of God, forgetting that we, by ourselves, are not capable of saving ourselves and are saved only by the death of Jesus. We all cost the greatest price, that price is the life and death of Jesus. That is the only thing we can boast of, and nothing else. We are worth the life of Jesus! And so also is the person next to you, behind you, in front of you. So we are all equally precious.
If anything, as the years goes by, we should begin to realize how little we know and be astounded at our ignorance. It takes a certain measure of knowledge to know how little we know.
The New Testament doesn't say: Don't think that your gifts are nothing special. It says; don’t think that your special gifts make you more valuable to God than someone with gifts different from yours.
Paul explicitly warns about boasting in 1 Corinthians 4, he doesn't ever advise the Corinthians to deny that they have talents, but advises them to remember where the talents came from, and that the nature of the talent is not a measure of worth. Don't be puffed up in favor of one against another, he says. "7 For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? If, then, you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?"
St. Thomas Aquinas says of humility that it is the recognition of the truth about oneself or about one's surroundings not only in the mind but also in the heart.
St. Thomas reminds us that if we don't have humility in the mind and in the heart, then we don't have it at all. You need to have recognized in your own mind the truth about oneself and accept it in the heart.
How can we grow in humility? Let us remember that humility is the basic virtue of the Christian way of life. We cannot believe unless we are humble and we cannot love our neighbor unless we are humble. Humility is a gift, and we have to ask God for this gift through prayer. Secondly, we need to collaborate with grace and do acts of humility. Obedience to our superiors, be they parents, priests, teachers or bosses at work, is a concrete way to exercise the virtue of humility. Charity is another concrete way to practice humility. Patience, kindness, forgiveness, service, speaking well of others and being a team player are all manifestations of the virtue of humility.
Let me ask you: What do you do when somebody wrongs you? Do you anger easily? That’s pride. Pride lies to us, telling us that we are little gods who should never be inconvenienced.
Pride lies to us, telling us that people have no excuse for hurting us, that they did so on purpose, that they are lower than sewer sludge, and that they deserve our wrath and scorn.
Pride lies to us, telling us that we have the right to do anything we want to do, and to avoid doing anything we don’t want to do. It was pride that made Lucifer say, “Non serviam! I will not serve!” Humility reminds us that God is in charge. He knows what he’s doing, and so we can trust Him completely. Every task we are given is a task that must be done by somebody. The humble soul says, “Here I am Lord; send me,” and then works patiently and gladly. It was humility that made Mary say, “Let it be done to me according to thy will.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.