Go and sin No more & Propagation of Faith
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Notice Jesus’ last words to the woman, “go away and don’t sin anymore.” (John 8:11) Jesus does not say that sin does not matter because sin does matter and damages our relationship with God.
The first step to take is deal with where all sin begins the mind. Among the Native Americans, there is a story of a father who said there were two wolves fighting within him, one bad and one good. His son asked which wolf wins and the father said whichever one he feeds the most. Sin begins in the mind, from there it moves on to become an action, from there it moves on to become a lifestyle, and then it affects us in eternity. Jesus said not to sin again.
A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry is not very clean," she said. "She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments. About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows." And so it is with our life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.
God does not remember our sins that are confessed but he says do not sin anymore. In his book, A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, Ron Lee Davis tells the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much- loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented but still had no peace about it. In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ. The priest, however, was skeptical about that. To test her he said, "The next time you speak with Christ, ask him what sin I committed while I was in the high school." The woman agreed. A few days later the priest asked, "Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?" "Yes, he did," she replied. "And did you ask him what sin I committed back in high school?" "Yes." "And what did he say?" She smiled and answered, "Christ said, 'I don't remember. '"
Even though God forgives and forget our sins, we have no right to judge others because we often commit the very faults we condemn, we are often partial and prejudiced in our judgment and we do not know the circumstances, which have led someone to sin. Hence, let us leave the judgment to our impartial God who reads people’s hearts.
Once the late Cardinal Hickey of Washington D.C. appealed to the community to support the Archdiocesan program for the homeless. He was asked, 'Why is this the work of the Church? Are these people Catholic'?' Cardinal Hickey replied, 'We shelter the homeless not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic. We shelter the homeless, we feed the hungry we educate the young, and we care for the sick because we believe we are sheltering, feeding, educating and caring for Jesus.' Yes, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am here today to remind you about our mission as catholic.
We are called to be missionaries by our sacrament of baptism. Jesus asked us to go around the whole world proclaiming the good news and baptizing them. Through the offering of Catholics worldwide, the Propagation of the Faith provides ongoing support for the pastoral and evangelizing programs of the Catholic Church in Africa, Asia, the islands of the pacific and remote regions of Latin America. This includes aid for the education and support of seminarians, religious novices and lay catechists; for the work of religious communities in education, health care and social services; for communication and transportation needs and for disaster and emergency relief when necessary. Help them to help others.
I am sure that you are very generous. There is nothing big or nothing small in giving, even a small sacrifice you make today for the Missions in the world will prayerfully be remembered by someone who is in utter need of your help. Mother Theresa teaches us "None of us can do anything great on our own, but we can all do a small thing with great love." Whatever small things we can do, God will take them and fit them into his own big picture. Our faith tells us that God will take care of the rest.
Last June I was in Ada, Columbus, Ohio. After the mass I was standing at the door seeing the people; there came a young girl, she may be six; she showed me four quarters on her palm, I did not understand what she is asking me to do. I asked her what I could do for her. She gave me that four coins and said father this is for your mission.
One day one Mother and a child were walking home after their weekend outing. They buy their dinner packet when they come home. The pious mother was teaching the child about God’s mercy and abundant love and if she needs anything, she could ask God and God will send the angels to help her. On their way back home from an evening walk, the child saw a poor man fighting with a dog to get his meal from a waste barrel. She felt sorry for this poor man and asked her mother “Mummy, why didn’t God send an Angel to help this poor man to find a meal a day?” Mummy said, “Honey who told you God did not sent an Angel today? He send you today to be an Angel for this poor Man. Take our dinner packet; go to him and be an angel for him today!” Dear brothers and sisters, Are you ready to become an Angel for someone who is utterly need of help?
Before the Mass started, someone told me Father if you do not speak long we will make it up for you. On behalf of the Propagation of faith, I would like to thank you all very sincerely for your prayers and generous contributions. I promise my prayers for all the members of this parish especially for all those who are grievously and seriously ill, and suffering from desperate hardships in their daily lives. I thank you all once again for your patient attention; may God bless you all.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Notice Jesus’ last words to the woman, “go away and don’t sin anymore.” (John 8:11) Jesus does not say that sin does not matter because sin does matter and damages our relationship with God.
The first step to take is deal with where all sin begins the mind. Among the Native Americans, there is a story of a father who said there were two wolves fighting within him, one bad and one good. His son asked which wolf wins and the father said whichever one he feeds the most. Sin begins in the mind, from there it moves on to become an action, from there it moves on to become a lifestyle, and then it affects us in eternity. Jesus said not to sin again.
A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry is not very clean," she said. "She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments. About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows." And so it is with our life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.
God does not remember our sins that are confessed but he says do not sin anymore. In his book, A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, Ron Lee Davis tells the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much- loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented but still had no peace about it. In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ. The priest, however, was skeptical about that. To test her he said, "The next time you speak with Christ, ask him what sin I committed while I was in the high school." The woman agreed. A few days later the priest asked, "Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?" "Yes, he did," she replied. "And did you ask him what sin I committed back in high school?" "Yes." "And what did he say?" She smiled and answered, "Christ said, 'I don't remember. '"
Even though God forgives and forget our sins, we have no right to judge others because we often commit the very faults we condemn, we are often partial and prejudiced in our judgment and we do not know the circumstances, which have led someone to sin. Hence, let us leave the judgment to our impartial God who reads people’s hearts.
Once the late Cardinal Hickey of Washington D.C. appealed to the community to support the Archdiocesan program for the homeless. He was asked, 'Why is this the work of the Church? Are these people Catholic'?' Cardinal Hickey replied, 'We shelter the homeless not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic. We shelter the homeless, we feed the hungry we educate the young, and we care for the sick because we believe we are sheltering, feeding, educating and caring for Jesus.' Yes, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am here today to remind you about our mission as catholic.
We are called to be missionaries by our sacrament of baptism. Jesus asked us to go around the whole world proclaiming the good news and baptizing them. Through the offering of Catholics worldwide, the Propagation of the Faith provides ongoing support for the pastoral and evangelizing programs of the Catholic Church in Africa, Asia, the islands of the pacific and remote regions of Latin America. This includes aid for the education and support of seminarians, religious novices and lay catechists; for the work of religious communities in education, health care and social services; for communication and transportation needs and for disaster and emergency relief when necessary. Help them to help others.
I am sure that you are very generous. There is nothing big or nothing small in giving, even a small sacrifice you make today for the Missions in the world will prayerfully be remembered by someone who is in utter need of your help. Mother Theresa teaches us "None of us can do anything great on our own, but we can all do a small thing with great love." Whatever small things we can do, God will take them and fit them into his own big picture. Our faith tells us that God will take care of the rest.
Last June I was in Ada, Columbus, Ohio. After the mass I was standing at the door seeing the people; there came a young girl, she may be six; she showed me four quarters on her palm, I did not understand what she is asking me to do. I asked her what I could do for her. She gave me that four coins and said father this is for your mission.
One day one Mother and a child were walking home after their weekend outing. They buy their dinner packet when they come home. The pious mother was teaching the child about God’s mercy and abundant love and if she needs anything, she could ask God and God will send the angels to help her. On their way back home from an evening walk, the child saw a poor man fighting with a dog to get his meal from a waste barrel. She felt sorry for this poor man and asked her mother “Mummy, why didn’t God send an Angel to help this poor man to find a meal a day?” Mummy said, “Honey who told you God did not sent an Angel today? He send you today to be an Angel for this poor Man. Take our dinner packet; go to him and be an angel for him today!” Dear brothers and sisters, Are you ready to become an Angel for someone who is utterly need of help?
Before the Mass started, someone told me Father if you do not speak long we will make it up for you. On behalf of the Propagation of faith, I would like to thank you all very sincerely for your prayers and generous contributions. I promise my prayers for all the members of this parish especially for all those who are grievously and seriously ill, and suffering from desperate hardships in their daily lives. I thank you all once again for your patient attention; may God bless you all.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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