Feast of St. Peter and St Paul

Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul

As we celebrate the Solemnity of these Apostles and Saint-Martyrs-one of the greatest popes and one of the greatest evangelists ever-- let us honor the Primacy of Peter and the Passion of Paul.
Let us look into bible about Saint Peter.
+Mt 16:18: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church” —
In the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Peter makes his own confession to Jesus, recognizing Him as the Messiah and Son of God. On the basis of this, his special task is conferred upon him through three images: the rock that becomes the foundation or cornerstone, the keys, and the image of binding and loosing.
+St Peter's name is mentioned twice as many times as all the other apostles’ names put together.
+St Peter's name always is listed first in important lists of apostles and sections, to denote his headship and then-current favored status.
+St Peter is pinpointed by Jesus in the "Apostolic mandate," to Feed His lambs in the all important post-resurrection appearance -Jn ch. 21) -Peter atones three times for his three-fold denial of Jesus.
Besides the Solemnity on 29 June, the Church commemorates both Apostles separately with two other feasts in the calendar: the Confession of Saint Peter on 18th January and the Conversion of Saint Paul on 25 January. Both these celebrations mark significant events in the lives of each Apostle, but curiously both also bring to mind the personal weaknesses of each.
The personal weaknesses and blemishes of the Apostles were not obstacles for God. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul tells how he had asked God to remove from him a “thorn in the flesh.” We are never told what this “thorn” was, and imagination does not help us much at this point. All we know is that Paul regarded this “thorn” as a “torment” and as something that kept him from having too much pride. He prayed to God three times asking that this “thorn” be removed, but always he received the same answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9)
As we look at the personalities of Peter and Paul, we see that God called them to use their personalities to spread the Gospel, Peter to use his impetuous love to look after the flock, and Paul to use his training as a Pharisee and his strength of character to ensure that the non-Jews would be welcomed into the church. It is a reminder to us that our talents and our weaknesses too can become God’s means of helping others, if we allow. We don’t have to be perfect for God to work through us, God can work through us, faults and all, as he did with Peter and Paul.

June 22 Thomas More and John Fisher

St. Thomas More and St John Fisher (Martyrs)
An unclean soul is synonymous with a heart full of frivolity. Humility and purity of conduct are the wings which raise us up to God and in a manner deify us. Remember this: The sinner who is ashamed to do evil is closer to God than the upright man who is ashamed to do good.
-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina
St. Thomas More was a family man with four children whose first wife died; he married again, in both instances happily. He became very famous in England, the number-one confidant to King Henry VIII. St. Thomas More had everything at his beck and call, riches and power. But when King Henry threatened his faith in Christ and in the Church St. Thomas More said, "No. I will not support you." He refused to sign an oath that Henry was really the pope in England and was executed after having been thrown into the Tower of London.
St. Thomas More is a man of Witness.
A witness must love the Lord Jesus more than anyone else.
A witness must trust in God for the strength to witness to the Truth with perseverance.
A witness must live the Gospel in words and deeds.
On the same day, June 22, we celebrate the feast of Bishop John Fisher. All the other bishops in England capitulated to King Henry VIII except John Fisher for the same reasons as Thomas More--he would not renounce his faith or would not compromise his faith in Christ and in the Church. Consequently, John Fisher was put to death. Yes dear brothers and sisters, there are and there will be lots of temptations in our lives for making compromises for what we believe. But don’t make any compromises for our faith.
What were the last words of St. Thomas More? He made clear that he was dying "for the faith of the holy Catholic Church" and that he was the King's good servant but God's first. What were the last words of John Fisher? He was "dying for the faith of Christ's holy Catholic Church."
Our faith must be subordinated to nothing in this world.
St. Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England, was highly favored by King Henry VIII. But he refused to sign the so-called loyalty oath declaring that Henry VIII was the supreme religious authority in England and not the pope. This was the beginning of the famous Reformation. Rather than sign the loyalty oath, both Thomas More and John Fisher went to their deaths.Thomas More knew that he had a wife and children. He wrote to one of them, his beloved daughter, Meg, and this is what he said:"Although I know well, Margaret, that because of my past wickedness I deserve to be abandoned by God, I can not but trust in His merciful goodness. His grace has strengthened me until now and made me content to lose goods, land and life as well rather than to swear against my conscience. "God's grace has given the king a gracious frame of mind toward me so that as yet he has taken from me nothing but my liberty. In doing this, His Majesty has done me such great good with respect to spiritual profit that I trust that among all the great benefits he has heaped so abundantly upon me, I count my imprisonment the very greatest. I can not therefore mistrust the grace of God. Either He shall keep the king in that gracious frame of mind to do me no harm or else if it be His pleasure that for my other sins I suffer in this case as I shall not deserve, then His grace shall give me the strength to bear it patiently and perhaps even gladly. I will not mistrust Him, though I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear."Finally, Margaret, I know this well that without my fault God will not let me be lost. I shall, therefore, with good hope commit myself fully to Him and if He permits me to perish for my faults then I shall serve as praise for His justice. But in good faith, Meg, I trust that His tender pity shall keep my poor soul safe and make me commend His mercy. And therefore, my own good daughter, do not let your mind be troubled over anything that shall happen to me in this world. Nothing can come but what God wills. And I am very sure that whatever that be, however bad it may seem, it shall indeed be for the best."

11th sunday Father's Day

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers day my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

In Mark 1:16-20) says “As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
In Hebrew tradition, one was known as the son of one’s father. In my neighborhood I am just my father’s Son. Oh he is the son of so and so.
James and John were the sons of Zebedee. James slashes Zebedee. John slashes Zebedee. One’s last name was the name of one’s father. Like myself. My last name John is my father’s name.
As you sit here today, my dear brothers and sisters, I want you to think of your own father. I hope you knew him. I hope you loved him. I hope he was a good father, as mine was. In book of Sirach 3:1 says “Children, pay heed to a father’s right; do so that you may live. He who honors his father atones for sins…in verse 12 we read My Son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives.”
But even if you didn’t know your father, even if you didn’t love your father, your father has still helped make you, negatively or positively, who you are today. There is a bond between father and child that nothing can break, not even death. In the first chapter of the book called Letters to My Son by Kent Nerburn, the author writes these words:
None of us can escape this shadow of the father, even if that shadow fills us with fear, even if it has no name or face. To be worthy of that man, to prove something to that man, to exorcise the memory of that man from every corner of our life - however it affects us, the shadow of that man cannot be denied…we all labor under the shadow. It makes us who we are and shapes the [person] we hope to be.
Brothers and sisters, it is never too late to make amends if we have wronged another. It is never too late to offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us. It is never too late to say “I love you” to another especially to our Dads, or to hear another say “I love you” to us. Whether you are a father, or a son, a mother or a daughter, it is never too late to touch and be touched by those with whom our lives in are forever inextricably bound.
On this Father’s Day, I wish to give a special challenge to all the men here today and always when I speak I am speaking to me too. You are an example to those around you, especially to children. Be a person of character and integrity. Modern Evangelical Faith has put too little importance on character.
Character does matter. Jesus said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Paul says in his letter to 2 Corinthians 3:18, “As all of us reflect the Lord's glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Laura Schlessinger says is plain, “We are what we do.” Forest Gump put it another way, “Stupid is as stupid does.” As much as we may hate it, our character is defined, not by what we say, but by what we do. Whether or not we love our family is not revealed by what we say, but by what we do. Character is defined by the willingness of a person to do what is right following a code of conduct which is the basis of the community and the faith.
This poem by an unknown author helps to show the important of character:
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
We have all heard the quote: "I can t hear what you are saying because what you do speaks so loudly." This is especially true of fatherhood. I must face up to the fact that "Do as I say, not as I do" just doesn’t work.
Several years ago, I had a single parent come in to see me because she was at her wits end, she had two girls and a boy, and the two girls had made the wrong choices which ended up in their getting pregnant. She didn’t t know how it could, because she was always so strict and constantly telling them that premarital sex was wrong. I asked her how the message was getting through to her girls when she had her boyfriend in for over night visits, and then even living together for a while. God wants us to use our minds. God wants us to think, but God does not want us to be disobedient. What has God told you in the Bible you didn’t follow, and it troubles you? It troubles your conscience because you know you should not do it - but you have done it? We might argue that nobody knows. We can argue that everybody else is doing it. We can try to rationalize our actions, but we have an obligation to God and to others. Though it may seem small at the time — disobedience to God does matter a hundred years from now. What we do when nobody else sees, is seen by God, and that matters.
Our Country has all the rights and freedoms. We should have a universal declaration of children’s rights saying that every child has a right to have a mother and a father. This is what people often forget when they discuss divorce. They tend to look only at the interests of the man and the woman. But I think that the party that is most hurt by a divorce is often not the man or the woman but the kids. Kids need fathers just as they need mothers. They need their fathers as role models as much as they need their mothers. A father’s love is different than a mother’s love and the child needs both in the same way that our bodies need both proteins and carbohydrates in order to achieve a balanced growth.
Let me just give you five alphabets to be remembered when we celebrate the father’s Day and when we look into our own lives as a responsible person.
First Letter is H:- Happiness. We need to be happy people. There are ups and downs in the life. If you are only concerned about your complexes and forget about the greatness in you. You will be always a sad person. Be happy. Rejoice in the Lord always.
Second letter is U:- Understanding. To stand under. When you stand under the foot of the cross you will know what the Suffering of Jesus is and why He suffered. We should stand under, capable of being adjust to any circumstances with prudence.
Third letter M stands for Maturity.
To be mature your intension should be innocent.
Actions should be proper
And your Reactions should be prudent.
The Fourth letter is A which stands for Ability. God has blessed you with lots of Talents and gifts. Do not burry them under the fig tree. Use it and be a successful man.
I think you have realized my final alphabet that is N which stands for Nobility.
And that is what I wanted to tell you. Be H-U-M-A-N. Be a Human. Sometimes we are fighting with ourselves to be something we are not and end up in mess. Be a Human and Jesus was really and Human .He wept, He was upset, he was angry, He accepted the invitations of the Pharisees for dinner. He accepted sinners. He only hated sin and always he welcomed the sinners to his life. Be human then it is always easy to be a good Father.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Most Holy Trinity Sunday Homily

Most Holy Trinity

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”Amen.

My Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
The doctrine of three persons in one God, equal in divinity yet distinct in personality, is not explicitly spelt out in the Bible. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the persons who are most intimate to our lives. In fact from the moment of baptism, they dwell within us; we are their temple. So the Feast of the Holy Trinity is not after all an exercise in mental gymnastics, but a joyful and thankful affirmation and celebration of the central mystery of Christian faith : our life in the one God in three divine persons : Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Saint Patrick was said to have used the three-leafed shamrock to illustrate the Holy Trinity. He explained in his sermons that the clover represented how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all separate parts of a single entity. Just as the shamrock was one plant with three leaves, so too was God one God in three Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Today's Gospel from St. John reaffirms the three fold action of the Blessed Trinity in our lives. Both, the Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit in the world as the Spirit of truth to guide us into the truth. As Jesus did not speak of His own, but spoke of what He heard from the Father, the Holy Spirit also will not speak on His own, but he speaks of what He hears.
The doctrine of the inner relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in such a way that each of them is fully and equally God, yet there are not three Gods but one, cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind. It is a mystery.
The story is told of St Augustine of Hippo, a great philosopher and theologian who wanted so much to understand the doctrine of the Trinity and to be able to explain it logically. One day as he was walking along the sea shore and reflecting on this, he suddenly saw a little child all alone on the shore. The child made a whole in the sand, ran to the sea with a little cup, filled her cup, came and poured it into the hole she had made in the sand. Back and forth she went to the sea, filled her cup and came and poured it into the hole. Augustine went up to her and said, "Little child, what are doing?" and she replied, "I am trying to empty the sea into this hole." "How do you think," Augustine asked her, "that you can empty this immense sea into this tiny hole and with this tiny cup?" To which she replied, " And you, how do you suppose that with this your small head you can comprehend the immensity of God?" With that the child disappeared.
In the story of salvation we usually attribute creation to the Father, redemption to the Son and sanctification to the Holy Spirit. Though they are distinct as persons, neither the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit ever exists or acts in isolation from the other two persons of the Godhead.
God the Father – Creator; The creative action of God should always be reflected in our parish communities. If our communities are not creative, then they will become static, dull, melancholic and depressive. There is need for renewal and refreshment. Look at the world around where there is such a lot of creativity. We experience the seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. There is this cycle of seasons to break the monotony. There ought to be creativity in our communities.
Jesus the Redeemer; He redeems. He redeems us daily through our contact with him. Jesus redeemed people from their ignorance through his teaching and preaching; he redeemed people possessed by demons. He redeemed them from their selfishness and slavery to money and passions. We ought to become redeemers. Redemption begins at home more than in society. If our communities are not free from all the infirmities we cannot expect to free our society. Redemption begins first at home. It ought to start every day when the day begins. At the end of the day we must see that some evil from our community is eliminated.
Holy Spirit Sanctifies; The Holy Spirit does not sanctify us without our willingness to be sanctified. He respects our freedom and expects our generous hearts to be open for his operations. Hence we need to be open and generous. The Spirit of the Lord operates whenever we are kind, gentle, peace-loving, patient, compassionate, forgiving, and sincere. You cannot expect others to be kind to you if you have never shown kindness. How can the Spirit of God enter into you when you yourself are not kind? If you have the habit of losing patience at every moment and with everyone you meet, how can you expect to experience patience from others? If you have never been compassionate with your community members can you expect compassion from others? The work of the Holy Spirit begins within you and you need to prepare yourself so that the fruits are seen, visible to others.
We ought to become sanctifiers. This signifies that evil must be cast out and good must be allowed to grow. This is easily said than done. If you do not move towards the other, you cannot expect that the other will move towards you. This is what we call movement of the Holy Spirit.
The importance of this doctrine lies in this: we are made in the image of God, therefore, the more we understand God the more we can understand ourselves.
Like a God, like the worshipers. So the more important question for us to ask today is: What does the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity tell us about the kind of God we worship and what does this say about the kind of people we should be? Let us try two things.
1. God does not exist in isolated individualism but in a community of relationships. In other words, God is not a loner or a recluse. This means that a Christian in search of Godliness (Matthew 5:48) must shun every tendency to isolationism and individualism. The ideal Christian spirituality is not that of flight from the world like that of certain non Christian monastic traditions where the quest for holiness means withdrawal to the Himalayas away from contact with other people and society. You can not save you alone. If you are not concerned about your brothers and sisters then you are not concerned about you.
2 True loves requires three partners. You remember the old saying "Two is company, three is a crowd." The Trinity shows us that three is community, three is love at its best; three is not a crowd. Taking an example from the human condition we see that when a man A is in love he looks for a woman B so that together they can produce a baby C. Father, mother and child — love when it becomes complete becomes a trinity. Over and above that, each one of us becomes fully human only when we are in relationship with God and in relationship with others. You are not fully human if you are only living for yourself. Christian life is a community life. In that way our life becomes Trinitarian like that of God. I am a Christian insofar as I live in a relationship of love with God and other people.
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Amen.