Feast of Epiphany of the Lord

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
There is a legend of the Robin bird. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, many came to witness the divine event, having been led there by a wondrous star that came and shone over a humble place where the Holy Family rested. A little robin passing that night was also led to the stable by the star.
There the robin saw the glorious infant surrounded by worshippers. No one noticed the plain brown bird. By and by, when the visitors and Magi left, the baby slept, and Joseph built a fire to keep the family warm through the Night, But Joseph and Mary fell asleep and the fire died down.
Seeing this, the robin bird swooped in and fanned the fire with his wings until the coals began to blaze warmly again. His breast grew red with the heat, but he stayed until morning, keeping the fire aglow. Baby Jesus woke and smiled at the robin.
And that is why, today, the bird robin is known for its cherry red breast- a symbol of faithful service.
Today we celebrate the feast of Epiphany of the Lord.The word Epiphany comes from the Greek meaning “to appear” or “to be shown forth” According to Roman Catholic tradition, Epiphany signifies the first appearance of Christ to the gentiles in the story of the visit of the three wise men to the divine infant Jesus. As the three wise men represent all the known peoples of the world, this signifies an appearance to the entire world, not just a few who call themselves Christians. Sometimes the three men represent the three ages of youth, middle age, and old age, sometimes the three known continents. since there were three gifts, it was assumed that they were three. According to medieval legends, the three Wiseman were named Melchior Balthazar and Gaspar. Each of them came from a different culture: Melchior was Asian, Balthazar was Persian and Gaspar was Ethiopian, thus representing the three races known to the old world. These three priest-kings and wise men brought royal gifts to the divine infant: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Melchior brought a golden cup, which, according to legend, was preserved by the Blessed Virgin Mary and was the same cup used in the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Balthazar brought a gold box of frankincense. Gaspar brought a curiously chased flask of myrrh, royal embalming oil.
The reaction of the Magi is interesting too…… when they enter the presence of God… revealed in his humble baby in a manger… they immediately open up treasures chests filled with gifts…… this must be our reaction too, in the presence of God….. when we come before the presence of Jesus… we too must open up our hearts and offer God our gifts…… the response of a person to the revelation of God’s presence is one of openness, generosity and service………
He receives three mysterious gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. What do they signify?
Second century writer, Irenaeus of Lyon, gave the most likely interpretation: the gifts signify Jesus’ kingship, his Godhead and his sacrificial death. It is no surprise that gold, the most precious of metals, symbolizes royalty. Frankincense, an aromatic substance brought from far away Nubia, was burned before the Holy of Holies. It signifies Jesus’ divine nature. Myrrh, also brought from Africa, formed part of a preservative ointment. It represents Jesus’ sacrificial death.
The gift of gold symbolizes the kingship of Christ, which represents our own true royal Selfhood and our giving of love and service as directed and commanded by that Self. The gift of frankincense symbolizes the Godhead of Christ and our own gifts of honor and reverence to our indwelling Divinity. The gift of myrrh is a prophecy of the death and burial of the earthly body of Christ, which represents our understanding and empathy for the suffering of humanity.
The wise men’s journey of a thousand miles or more westwards from Persia which could have taken three months is really a symbol of the inward journey they made in their hearts, a journey from paganism to belief in Jesus as the Savior of the world. Indeed not just the wise men but all of us are on a journey to get closer to Jesus our Savior. Our journey may not be from reading stars and consulting horoscopes but we each are called to allow Jesus be Lord of each part of our lives, not just when it suits us. We each have a journey to make to Jesus because none of us is yet fully converted and each of us has corners in our hearts and lives in need of Jesus’ healing and redemption. Like the wise men we too are relying on the grace of God to lead us to the light of Jesus our Savior.
The Spanish poet Lope de Vega wrote about a beautiful poem about this. Its title is: La llegada de los reyes magos. The arrival of the Magi Kings. Lope de Vega describes how the star guided them in the dark night, but when they found Jesus, the stars faded.
You Kings, who come from the East,are searching the night skylooking at the their beautiful lights.
Do not follow them nowfor where the sun isthe stars have no light.
The Child shines upon you.And where the sun isthe stars have no light.
In the West, in the middle Ages the houses were blessed on Epiphany. Holy water was sprinkled in each room. The father of the house took the blessed chalk and wrote over every room that led outside: AD 20+C+M+B+08 which are for the Latin Christus Mansionem Benedicat (Christ bless this house). At the same time the letters are the first letters of the names of the wise men: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. which also stands for "Anno Domini 2008-- Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar" and means "The three Holy Kings, Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar, in the year of Our Lord, 2008" or whatever the year may be. This tradition of blessing the doorways symbolizes the family's commitment to welcome Christ into their homes on a daily basis through the year.
The quest of the Magi reminds us that God is truly with us. Sometimes during our journey, clarity disappears and we begin to doubt. Let us remember that Jesus is always with us. He is Emmanuel, God with us. Like the shining star, He is present in the tabernacle, just as He was present in the manger of Bethlehem. Let us go Him and Bless and adore him today.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Ordination day and the Feast of John Neumann

My Priestly Anniversary and the Feast of John Neumann
A priest’s vocation is to bless, absolve, and teach. These are not acts, but part of an attitude. We are to be present in the world in such a way that those we meet feel absolved without asking for absolution, feel blessed without asking for blessing, feel instructed without asking for teaching. And this attitude needs to be so intrinsic to our beings that there is never a moment of time when we are not this way. "From this task of absolving and blessing, both implicitly and explicitly, of living an absolving existence and a blessing existence, there are no days off, no vacations, no remissions.
Today I am celebrating eleventh anniversary of my Ordination. On January 5th, 1997, I was ordained to the priesthood.
There is a humorous story about a conversation between a recently ordained priest and his elderly pastor. Actually, it was a heated argument about a pastoral issue. In exasperation the pastor finally said, "Don't argue with me. I've had forty years experience as a priest."
The young priest looked at him and said. "No you haven't. You haven't had forty years experience. You had one year's experience and you repeated forty times!"
Well, I admit there has been much repetition in these past one decade:
But I always ask myself: What is required to be a happy priest? Or to be more precise, what can I do to be a happier priest?
St. John gives us one of the keys to happiness. When people came out to the desert to hear him, they asked John, "What should we do?" He replied that the person who had two cloaks should share with the one who has none. In some ways, that is pretty obvious advice. One of the keys to happiness is to share - or give away - as much as possible.
Of course, financial giving must always be accompanied by a deeper giving. St. Vincent de Paul said, "It is for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give them." To be able to give to another - whether materially or spiritually - is a great privilege. And we must always be open to receiving. No one is so rich that he has nothing to receive - and no one is so poor that he has nothing to give. I imagine that the man who had two cloaks thought of himself as poor: one cloak to wear and one cloak to wash. But St. John told him to give to the person who has none.
So as I speak to you on this day, the anniversary of the day when I celebrated my first Mass, I think I would like to say that the life of a priest is, can and should be a worthy one and a happy one. I have never regretted my decision to be a priest. I hope and trust the Lord will give me grace to persevere to the end. I believe that the vocation of a priest is a precious gift for the Church. But it makes demands on the man who gives himself to it. St. Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians, that he “handed over to God’s people and to the Church, not only the Good News, but his whole life as well”. (1 Thess. 2:8). That is what a priest is called to do. He must in an extraordinary way ‘put on Christ’, be like Him. By his words and example he must show Christ to others. There is a little passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, “Glory be to Him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20). I ask you, my dear sisters and brothers, to pray with me and for me to the good God who can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. He loves his Church. He loves his people. And he loves this world for which his Son, Jesus, gave his life.
Saint John Neumann
This American saint was born in Prachatitz, Bohemia (Czech Republic) in 1811. He was taken the same day to the parish church, baptized and named for one of the patron saints of his homeland, John Nepomucene.
In addition to his native German and Bohemian, he knew Italian, Spanish, Greek and Latin. In Prague, he undertook to learn English and French as well. In later life, he taught himself Gaelic in order to minister to Irish immigrants.
He was looking forward to being ordained in 1835 when the bishop decided there would be no more ordinations. It is difficult to imagine now, but Bohemia was overstocked with priests. John wrote to bishops all over Europe but the story was the same everywhere - no one wanted any more bishops. John was sure he was called to be a priest but all the doors to follow that vocation seemed to close in his face.
John didn’t give up. He was inspired by the missionary writings of Bishop Frederic Baraga in America, and because he had learned English by working in a factory with English-speaking workers, he wrote to the bishops in America. Finally, the bishop in New York agreed to ordain him. In order to follow God's call to the priesthood, John would have to leave his home forever and travel across the ocean to a new and rugged land.
John was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Bishop John Neumann chose the motto of “Passion of Christ strengthen me” in his Coat of Arms. As bishop, he was the first to organize a diocesan Catholic school system.
John never lost his love and concern for the people. In 1860, John Nepomucene Neumann died due to a stroke at the age of 48 while walking down a street in Philadelphia. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI on June 19, 1977, and became the first American bishop to be so honored.

Happy New Year 2008
Happy New Year my dear brothers and sisters,
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 2007 that has just ended and to look forward to the New Year 2008 ahead of us.
There are people who tell you that there is no point making New Year resolutions. Do not believe them. We must set goals and make resolutions as a necessary conclusion to our review of the past year. And we do need to review our lives from year to year because, as Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living.
I have five suggestions for the New Year for all of us. First one is; we try to learn something. Look at the year past. Did you learn anything? In the movie “Rudy” a priest is saying; “In my thirty years as a priest, I have learned two things. There is a God and it’s not me.” That’s not a bad lesson for all of us. Try to learn something from the year past.
The second thing I would suggest is to see if you can let go of a lot of garbage (resentments, angers, what if, if-only). You can’t let go of it. I remember the story of a lady who moved from her small apartment to a brand new house and the movers came in and they said, “What do you want to move?” And she said, “Take everything.” They took her seriously. When she moved into her beautiful new house there was trash. There was garbage. There were orange peels. There were empty bottles. There were old newspapers. They took everything and they moved it along to her new house. Don’t take everything into the New Year. See if you can let go of some of the garbage.
Getting rid of all the old, hung-onto, grief and grievances is like you feel lighter, the world brighter and you, more in control. You just feel incredibly free and relieved. Sing with me if you know this small song:
Let go and Let God has its wonderful way; Let go and Let God has its way;
Your sorrows will vanish, your nights turn to day; Let go and Let God has its way.
Thirdly, look forward to a lot. Our world, we ourselves have a long way to go. And look forward to it with hope.
Fourthly start and live every single day with happiness and joy.
How many times did you hear Happy New Year today? How many times did you give that same greeting to others? Was it just a conventional greeting or was it a real wish? In other words is it really possible to find happiness in the New Year?
It would be a mistake, of course, to expect perfect happiness this year or any year in this life. As St. Augustine said, “Lord, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” But there is a deep, lasting peace that everyone can have in this life.
Happiness consists not in amassing possessions. If things could make people happy, Americans would be the happiest people in the world. We have more things than any other generation. Unfortunately we begin by possessing things and end up with things possessing us. It is the desire, the craving for things we do not have that causes so much unhappiness. We are supposed to love people and use things. In our affluent society we turn that around and love things and use people to get the things we love.
We cannot find happiness by seeking it. The fact of the matter is, the moment you seek it you lose it. Happiness is always a by-product, green stamps, and lagniappe (lan-yap).
But what is happiness a by-product of? What is it that has happiness as a side effect? The answer is to be found in Bethlehem. Let us go to Bethlehem to see what it is. Look into the cave. Take your eyes away from the beautiful babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger and look around. There is none of those things in which we seek happiness. There is no riches, no fame, no power, no conveniences, no pleasure, nothing but an empty, cold cave on the outskirts of town.
Now look at Mary and Joseph kneeling before the manger. They must be tired. They have traveled 75 miles or so from Nazareth to Bethlehem on foot and on the jolting back of a donkey. They must be very hungry. They haven’t had a real meal since they left Nazareth some 3 days ago. They must be cold in this damp cave in the midst of winter. It must have been very humiliating for them to discover no room among their relatives in their ancestral home or at the village Inn.
Yet in the midst of all of this, Mary and Joseph are the happiest people to walk the face of this earth. Here in Bethlehem they are teaching us the amazing paradox that it is only when we lose ourselves in the love and service of Jesus do we find happiness. Happiness that this world can never give and no one can take from us. But how can we lose ourselves in the love and service of Jesus? Jesus has made it very simple, “Whatever you do for one of these least brethren you do for me.”
And finally, do not close the heart but pray for the light. Let us take a real example. You are here listening to me; I am certain most of you are not following me because of my Indian accent and poor English. You have two options; one you can open your heart and listen and after few minutes or times you could follow; or you can close your heart totally and start reading the bulletin or go out and have a cup of coffee. It is same in our families; we could either listen to them and can change our attitude or we can close our heart and keep the revenge.
Yes dear brothers and sisters, and that is what the New Year is all about . . . the clean mind and the open heart. .. And the new life that Jesus gave to us. So I wish you a very happy, joyous, healthy and blessed New Year: may we all live our lives to the fullest degree, rejoicing in the great gift of newness and renewal that Christ’s birth brings to us each year.
A M E N.

Holy Family Dec 30, 2007

Feast of Holy Family
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
On this Feast of the Holy Family, when we hear of Jesus and his parents fleeing Herod’s threats, scripture scholar William Barclay offers us a fanciful tale that further brightens the season, calling our attention to the glittering, sparkling adornment of the Christmas trees that grace our homes:“When Joseph and Mary were on their way to Egypt, the story runs, as the evening came they were weary, and they sought refuge in a cave. It was very cold, so cold that the ground was white with hoar frost. A little spider saw the baby Jesus, and he wished so much that he could do something to keep him warm in the cold night. He decided to do the only thing he could and spin his web across the entrance to the cave, to make, as it were, a curtain there.
“Along the path came a detachment of Herod’s soldiers, seeking for children to kill to carry out Herod’s bloodthirsty order. When they came to the cave they were about to burst in to search it, but their captain noticed the spider’s web, covered with the white hoar frost and stretched right across the entrance to the cave. ‘Look,’ he said ‘at the spider’s web there. It is quite unbroken and there cannot possibly be anyone in the cave, for anyone entering would certainly have broken the web.’
“So the soldiers passed on, and left the holy family in peace, because a little spider had spun its web across the entrance to the cave. And that, so they say, is why to this day we put tinsel on our Christmas trees, for the glittering tinsel streamers stand for the spider’s web, white with the hoar frost, stretched across the entrance of the cave on the way to Egypt.” (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. I, p. 35)
How appropriate, then, for the Church to invite us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday following Christmas. Even though God was the Father of Jesus, he wanted his divine son to experience the nurturance of a human family. So, in addition to Mary his Mother, he gave him Joseph as a human father to stand in his place. Thus God obviously considers human family life to be good and holy.
A little boy greets his father as he returns from work with a question: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” The father is surprised and says: “Look, son, not even your mother knows. Don’t bother me now, I’m tired.” “But Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour?” the boy insists. The father finally gives up and replies: “Twenty dollars.” “Okay, Daddy,” the boy continues, “Could you loan me ten dollars?” The father yells at him: “So that was the reason you asked how much I earn, right? Now, go to sleep and don’t bother me anymore!” At night the father thinks over what he said and starts feeling guilty. Maybe his son needed to buy something. Finally, he goes to his son's room. “Are you asleep, son?” asks the father. “No, Daddy. Why?” replies the boy. “Here's the money you asked for earlier,” the father said. “Thanks, Daddy!” replies the boy and receives the money. Then he reaches under his pillow and brings out some more money. “Now I have enough! Now I have twenty dollars!” says the boy to his father, “Daddy, could you sell me one hour of your time?” Today’s gospel has a message for this man and for all of us, and the message is that we need to invest more of our time in our family life.
To lead a good family life please remember this motto: which goes this way: Joy at the Examples of Sacrifice and Unity for Salvation. The acronym is J-E-S-U-S (Joy at the Examples of Sacrifice and Unity for Salvation). To be successful in a family, one must learn to be like J-E-S-U-S or Jesus. From this holy family we get J-E-S-U-S. Joy—Examples—Sacrifices—Unity—Salvation
First, JOY of life. You remember my Christmas homily about Joy:Joy stands for Jesus first, Others next and You the last but not the least. There are EXAMPLES to emulate. There is Joseph, the righteous man of God who devoted his life for his family. He understood his stewardship role, that although Jesus was in his care, he always had to let him go for God. There is the mother Mary. She was attentive to God through the angelic call. She nurtured herself with God's word and followed her Son Jesus from the beginning to the end of his life. She stood at the foot of the Cross. Any member can be assured that Mary also stands by him, especially in moments of trials and tribulations. It is the example of the Holy Family that we can imitate. Third, the Holy Family is marked also by a spirit of SACRIFICE. At the appointed time, the family went to the Temple for sacrificial offerings (Lk 2:22-40). Then as they have to fulfill God's plan for them, they had to go through lots of sacrifices. But anything they did, it was holy or sacred before God. They offered their whole life to the Lord wherever they were, whenever and whatever they did. Fourth, the Holy Family was marked by UNITY of mind, heart and soul in God. Led by their Son Jesus, even Mary and Joseph were reminded that they have to be about the Father's business, (Lk 2:49). What unites the family should be the promotion of God's will in word and deed. It should also be the goal of every community, be it a parish, a family. Lastly, the objective in life is our eternal SALVATION. We may strive to be rich, healthy, well-educated and rightly connected. But all of these are meaningful only when they promote our final union with God in His kingdom. Otherwise, it is a vain and useless life.
To measure how much you are contributing into making your family a loving home ask yourself how much of the three A’s – Attention, Affection, and Appreciation – you are giving to each and every member of your family. We all need to give, as well as receive, the three A’s in order to love and feel loved. Next to the home, the church should be a family – an extended family – where we give and receive love. Take time today to look to your right or your left and notice a man, woman, teenager or child who could do with a little bit more of attention, affection and appreciation. Sure enough, our neighbor is found outside the home and the church, but if we can start being more loving in the home and the church we would be taking practical steps in living like members of the family of God that we are.
As we are celebrating the Feast of Holy Family today my dear brothers and sisters please remember what St Paul saying to us through his letter to Colossians 3:12-21 “holy and beloved, Brothers and sisters, Put on, as God’s chosen ones, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful…”
May God Bless our Families!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Christmas Day Homily

Christmas Day: A baby is born for you!
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Christ is born for us! Christ takes on our humanity so that we can share in His divinity. We have, at one level, absolutely no idea what that might mean—except that God loves us more than we can imagine.
When the Son of God became man for our sake, He could have come on earth as an adult man from the first moment of His human existence, as Adam did when he was created. But since the sight of little children draws us with an especial attraction to love them, Jesus chose to make His first appearance on earth as a little infant, and indeed as the poorest and most pitiful infant that was ever born. "God wished to be born as a little babe," wrote Saint Peter Chrysologus, "in order that He might teach us to love and not to fear Him." The prophet Isaiah had long before foretold that the Son of God was to be born as an infant and thus give Himself to us on account of the love He bore us: "A child is born to us, a son is given to us."
The brilliant writer, C. S. Lewis, wrote a thought-provoking book called "The Great Divorce." It is not about the divorce that occurs between husband and wife. It is about the divorce that occurs between our souls and God. In this book, C. S. Lewis gives us a picture of Hell as a big city, with all its pressures and problems. In this big city, the weather is always cold and wet with a heavy rain. The light is always grey and murky. The people in this city of Hell become more and more aware of the great divorce that has taken place between their soul and God, and they sink deeper and deeper into their dismal surroundings. Except ... there is a way out! There is a way out of this terrible condition! God has provided a shuttle-bus service from Hell to Heaven: regular bus service. All you need to do is get on the bus and let the power of God carry you into the light. The incredible thing about the story is that very few people get on board the buses, even though they are arriving and departing all the time. The people find all kinds of excuses for putting the journey off to some vague future time -- and they miss the opportunity to be carried by the power of God from death to new life; from the misery of being estranged from God to the joy of being in union with God. Though we may stand in the darkness of the "great divorce," the Christmas Promise of God is that He will carry us into the light if only we are willing to get on the bus.
Let us remember the famous lines of Alexander Pope: “What do I profit if Jesus is born in thousands of cribs all over the world during this Christmas, but is not born in my heart?” Let us allow Him to be reborn in our lives during Christmas 2007 and every day of the New Year 2008. How should we prepare for Christ’s rebirth in our daily lives? As a first step, John the Baptist urges us to repent daily of our sins and to renew our lives by leveling the hills of pride and selfishness, by filling up the valleys of impurity, and by straightening the crooked paths hatred. Our second step in preparing for Christ’s rebirth in our daily lives is to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice and humility. It was by sacrifice that the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Magi were able to find the Savior. They were humble enough to see God in the Child in the manger. We too can experience Jesus by sharing Him with others, just as God shared His Son with us. Let us remember that the angels wished peace on earth only to those able to receive that peace, those who possessed the good will and largeness of heart to share Jesus our Savior with others in love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness and humble service.
This is a story from “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. Mr. Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked. Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that But what the child said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels. "I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that." Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, and then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?" "Oh yes, I'd love that." After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the child wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And someday I'm gonna give you one just like it...then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about." Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said: "It is more blessed to give..." (Dan Clark., pp. 25-26, 1992)
Today the angels are bringing us the good news of great joy for all the people, for to us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This good news of great joy is for all the people of God. As people of God we have a claim to the joy and the peace that the birth of Christ brings to the world. But how do I personally enter into this "great joy" of Christmas? Christmas rings out "joy to the world," yes, but how do I make this joy my own? This is an important question, for, even though God has declared joy to the whole world, there are still many among us who do not flow in this joy, many among us who do not know how to claim this joy and make it their own personally.
How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I'll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that it is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before You. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly, we need to try to please others before trying to please yourself. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can convert the Christmas "joy to the world" into a personal "joy in my life" now and always.
And, dear brothers and sisters, when you feel most weary, most tempted, it is precisely then that God wishes to make known his love through you. To paraphrase St. Therese of Lisieux:
O blessed night
When the sweet infant Jesus
Scarcely an hour old
Overcomes the darkness of our souls
And floods them with his light

Merry Christmas to you all.

Merry Christmas

Christmas 2007 Vigil Mass
My Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Christmas is finally here. All four weeks of Advent we have been waiting and praying for the coming blessings of Christmas. And now Christmas is here.
In Africa, a tale is told of a boy called Amazu, who was always very inquisitive. One day he asked, “What language does God speak?” But no one could answer him. He traveled all over his country questioning everyone but could not get a satisfactory answer. Eventually he set out for distant lands on his quest. For a long time he had no success. At length, he came one night to a village called Bethlehem, and as there was no room in the local inn, he went outside the village in search of shelter for the night. At last he came to a cave and found that a couple and a child also occupied it. He was about to turn away when the young mother spoke, “Welcome Amazu, we’ve been waiting for you.” The boy amazed that the woman knew his name, was even more amazed when she went on to say, “For a long time you have been searching the world over to find out what language God speaks. Well, now your journey is over. Tonight you can see with your own eyes the language God speaks. He speaks the language of love.
Today the angels are bringing us the good news of great joy for all the people, for to us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This good news of great joy is for all the people of God. As people of God we have a claim to the joy and the peace that the birth of Christ brings to the world. But how do I personally enter into this "great joy" of Christmas? Christmas rings out "joy to the world," yes, but how do I make this joy my own? This is an important question, for, even though God has declared joy to the whole world, there are still many among us who do not flow in this joy, many among us who do not know how to claim this joy and make it their own personally.
Some of you may remember or heard about the incident that happened about a month before Christmas in 1965, a power failure of New York City’s Consolidated Edison blacked out the entire city of New York. The disaster occurred at just about the height of the evening winter rush hour, when darkness was beginning to descend upon the city. Thousands of commuters were caught in tunnels and trains. Thousands were trapped in high rises. Thousands were trapped in crowded elevators between floors of tall buildings.
What amazed the citizens of New York, especially the police of the City, was the response of the people to the blackout. A few grew angry, and a few took advantage of the situation. But by large, the people responded with amazing concern.
They helped one another. They worked together to assist the elderly in a special way. You could hear singing on commuter trains and in darkened corridors of skyscrapers. What was even more amazing was that crime was almost nonexistent during this period.
The blackout and the nearness to Christmas helped the people discover a dimension in themselves that they never knew they had.
Yes dear brothers and sisters, Christmas is an invitation for each one of us to discover in ourselves a dimension of goodness, which we call Jesus Christ. It’s an invitation to let that dimension shine forth into the darkness of today’s world.
If Jesus is to be born anew into our modern world, it must be through us. We must let the light of the World shine through us first, if we are to become a light to our world.
So is the good news of great joy that God showers on the world at Christmas. We still need to do something, make a little effort, before we can personally experience this joy in our lives, in our families, and in our world.
How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I'll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that it is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before You. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly, we need to try to please others before trying to please yourself. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can convert the Christmas "joy to the world" into a personal "joy in my life" now and always.
Joseph lived not for himself but for Jesus and Mary. He was happy because he put Others before him.
Santa's most popular reindeer by far is Rudolf, Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer. Here is his story as told in music by Johnny Marks: Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolf play in any reindeer games. Then one foggy Christmas eve Santa came to say: "Rudolf with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Then all the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee: "Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, you'll go down in history!" The story of Rudolf, is the story of salvation. It is our story both as individuals and as the human family. In our own case it is not Santa who saves us but the Child Jesus.
English speaking peoples say Merry Christmas. The Spanish say Feliz Navidad. Filipinos say Maligayamg Pasko. In Korea, people say Sung Tan Chuk Ha. The French say Joyeux Noel and the Portuguese say Boas Festas. The German speaking people will say Freue Weinachten. Hindi speaking people say Christu-Gayanthi Mubarak and Malayalam speaking people will say Christumas asamsakal. Whatever language we may speak as we contemplate the Christ child lying in the manger of Bethlehem, God speaks only one language and that language is the language of love.
“Yes, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through Him the world might be saved” (John 3: 16-17).
Merry Christmas to you

Christmas Vigil Mass

Christmas 2007 Vigil Mass
My Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Christmas is finally here. All four weeks of Advent we have been waiting and praying for the coming blessings of Christmas. And now Christmas is here.
In Africa, a tale is told of a boy called Amazu, who was always very inquisitive. One day he asked, “What language does God speak?” But no one could answer him. He traveled all over his country questioning everyone but could not get a satisfactory answer. Eventually he set out for distant lands on his quest. For a long time he had no success. At length, he came one night to a village called Bethlehem, and as there was no room in the local inn, he went outside the village in search of shelter for the night. At last he came to a cave and found that a couple and a child also occupied it. He was about to turn away when the young mother spoke, “Welcome Amazu, we’ve been waiting for you.” The boy amazed that the woman knew his name, was even more amazed when she went on to say, “For a long time you have been searching the world over to find out what language God speaks. Well, now your journey is over. Tonight you can see with your own eyes the language God speaks. He speaks the language of love.
Today the angels are bringing us the good news of great joy for all the people, for to us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This good news of great joy is for all the people of God. As people of God we have a claim to the joy and the peace that the birth of Christ brings to the world. But how do I personally enter into this "great joy" of Christmas? Christmas rings out "joy to the world," yes, but how do I make this joy my own? This is an important question, for, even though God has declared joy to the whole world, there are still many among us who do not flow in this joy, many among us who do not know how to claim this joy and make it their own personally.
Some of you may remember or heard about the incident that happened about a month before Christmas in 1965, a power failure of New York City’s Consolidated Edison blacked out the entire city of New York. The disaster occurred at just about the height of the evening winter rush hour, when darkness was beginning to descend upon the city. Thousands of commuters were caught in tunnels and trains. Thousands were trapped in high rises. Thousands were trapped in crowded elevators between floors of tall buildings.
What amazed the citizens of New York, especially the police of the City, was the response of the people to the blackout. A few grew angry, and a few took advantage of the situation. But by large, the people responded with amazing concern.
They helped one another. They worked together to assist the elderly in a special way. You could hear singing on commuter trains and in darkened corridors of skyscrapers. What was even more amazing was that crime was almost nonexistent during this period.
The blackout and the nearness to Christmas helped the people discover a dimension in themselves that they never knew they had.
Yes dear brothers and sisters, Christmas is an invitation for each one of us to discover in ourselves a dimension of goodness, which we call Jesus Christ. It’s an invitation to let that dimension shine forth into the darkness of today’s world.
If Jesus is to be born anew into our modern world, it must be through us. We must let the light of the World shine through us first, if we are to become a light to our world.
So is the good news of great joy that God showers on the world at Christmas. We still need to do something, make a little effort, before we can personally experience this joy in our lives, in our families, and in our world.
How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I'll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that it is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before You. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly, we need to try to please others before trying to please yourself. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can convert the Christmas "joy to the world" into a personal "joy in my life" now and always.
Joseph lived not for himself but for Jesus and Mary. He was happy because he put Others before him.
Santa's most popular reindeer by far is Rudolf, Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer. Here is his story as told in music by Johnny Marks: Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolf play in any reindeer games. Then one foggy Christmas eve Santa came to say: "Rudolf with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Then all the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee: "Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, you'll go down in history!" The story of Rudolf, is the story of salvation. It is our story both as individuals and as the human family. In our own case it is not Santa who saves us but the Child Jesus.
English speaking peoples say Merry Christmas. The Spanish say Feliz Navidad. Filipinos say Maligayamg Pasko. In Korea, people say Sung Tan Chuk Ha. The French say Joyeux Noel and the Portuguese say Boas Festas. The German speaking people will say Freue Weinachten. Hindi speaking people say Christu-Gayanthi Mubarak and Malayalam speaking people will say Christumas asamsakal. Whatever language we may speak as we contemplate the Christ child lying in the manger of Bethlehem, God speaks only one language and that language is the language of love.
“Yes, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through Him the world might be saved” (John 3: 16-17).
Merry Christmas to you

4th Sunday Advent 2007

Trust in the Lord
My Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Christmas is just days away! Do we want to celebrate a truly grace-filled Christmas? Do we? Then, let us look at Mary and Joseph do what they did.
Our text tells us that Joseph was "a righteous man." This means he was God-fearing and law-abiding. He was a simple and honest man. In the Greek language the exact same word is applied to Zechariah and Elizabeth, whom Scripture describes as being "upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly" (Lk 1:6).To fully appreciate Joseph's righteousness, we need to understand Jewish marriage procedures. It consisted of two steps. First, a formal exchange of vows before witnesses. Second, the taking of the bride to the groom's family home.A marriage was considered legal after the first step already; the woman was the man's wife even though she continued to live at her own family home, usually for about a year. That is why a formal certificate of divorce was required to break the vows. That is also why a woman was considered a widow if the man died before she was taken into his home. Furthermore, this is also why any sexual behavior by the woman after the exchange of vows was considered adultery. The Law required that when a woman was taken to her husband's home, she was to be taken as a virgin.We are told that "Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph." This means Joseph and Mary had already gone through the first step of marriage and were considered husband and wife; that is why Joseph is identified as "her husband" (vs 19). We are also told that the events in front of us happened "before they came together." This means Joseph had yet to take Mary into his home.Joseph was also a merciful, caring, and compassionate man. He did not want to humiliate Mary. He did not want to shame her in front of all the world. He did not want to publicly accuse her of a serious sin. He did not want to subject her to a community trial. He did not want her to be stoned for her sin. So he decided to divorce Mary quietly.
In more than one place the Bible joins righteousness to graciousness and compassion (Ps 112:4; 37:21). The Book of Wisdom declares that "Those who are upright must be kind" (Wisdom 12:19). So, we see that Joseph's kindness or mercy was actually part of his righteousness. As a righteous man, Joseph showed love. As a righteous man, Joseph showed love not only for God but also for man.If there is one thing Mary and Joseph needed in connection with the birth of Jesus, it was trust.
First, Mary had to trust that even though she was a virgin, she would bear a child by the Holy Spirit. Mary trusted, and it was done to her as the angel said.
Second, Joseph had to trust that Mary’s pregnancy was indeed by the Holy Spirit and not by someone else. Joseph trusted, and received Mary into his Home as his wife.
One of the most difficult things we are asked to do in life is to trust. And our trust must go in three directions.
First, we must trust God, just as Mary and Joseph did. Happy are those” says the book of Psalms, “who trust in God.” (Psalms 84:12)
Second, we must trust each other, just as Mary and Joseph did.
In her article, Ardis Whitman recalls an event that happened when she was a child of eight.
One day her mother took her to the circus. She was absolutely thrilled by the trapeze performers as they swung back and forth high in the air, catching each other at the last minute.
As she was watching, she turned to her mother and said excitedly,” Aren’t they scared, Momma? Aren’t they scared?”
Before her mother could answer, a man in the row in front of them turned and said to the little girl, “Honey, they aren’t scared. They trust each other.”
There was a brief silence and then someone else was heard to say, “that man should know. He used to perform on the high wire himself’.
And so the second trust we must have is trust in each other.
Finally, there is the most difficult trust of all. It is far more difficult than trusting in God or trusting in each other. It is trusting in ourselves. It is trusting in our own goodness as persons. It’s trusting in our own value.
It’s trusting that God made us for some special purpose.
In his book Through Seasons of the Heart, author John Powell writes:
“God sends person into this world with a special message to deliver, with a special song to sing… With a special act of love to bestow.”
Yes dear brothers and sisters, No one else can speak our special message. No one else can sing our special song. No one else can bestow our special act of Love. We must do this ourselves.
None of us in this church today is too young to speak our message, too old to sing our song, too weak to perform our act of love.
Let me close today with the prayer by Cardinal Newman the great British intellectual and writer of the last century. It is a prayer both Mary and Joseph could have prayed with special devotion in their situation in today’s gospel. It speaks of the trust we must have in God , in one another , and in ourselves.
“God has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission- I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I shall do good…” Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him… God does nothing in vain. He may prolong my life, he may shorten it; he knows what he is about…O my God, I will put myself without reserve into your hands.’
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

3rd Sunday Advent Year A

Rejoice in the Lord Always

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
With the lighting of the pink candle of the Advent Wreath, we are reminded that we are called to live with joy. Christianity is a joyful religion. The birth of the Savior brings joy to the world. He is the only source of true joy.
The challenges of life will always be with us, but each day we have a choice: the choice to be happy or the choice to be miserable. Whether we cry or whether we laugh we will die; then why don’t we die with a smile on our face? When we make the choice to live joyful lives, our soul opens up to the action of the Holy Spirit and He fills our whole being with His power.
Two frogs fell into a deep bowl of cream. One was an optimistic soul. But the other took the gloomy view. "We'll drown," he lamented, and with a last despairing cry, he flung up his legs and said "Goodbye."
The other frog with a steadfast grin said, “I can't get out but I won't give in, I'll just swim around until my strength is spent, then I'll die the more content." Bravely he swam to work his scheme, and his struggles began to churn the cream.
The more he swam, the more the cream turned into butter. On top of the butter at last he stopped, and out of the bowl he hopped out to safety.
This Sunday’s liturgy reminds us that Christianity is a joyful experience. Patience is essential if we are to be joyful and never allow ourselves to be crushed by the difficulties of life. Let us remember the words of the Apostle James: “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. (James 5:7-8)
James points to nature to illustrate his point that patience is necessary. The farmer suffers in sowing the seed. The same farmer will rejoice in harvesting the crop.
Now, what does it mean to be patient? To be patient is to understand that my present suffering is meaningful and necessary. It is as meaningful and necessary as the suffering of the farmer waiting for the harvest. The justification for the suffering is in the good-times that will come in the future.
Jesus said in the Gospel today “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me”. Have you ever seen someone take offense at the Lord? I have. A certain lady who spent her time working for the Lord — visiting the sick and the bedridden, helping the elderly and the handicapped — was diagnosed of a knee problem needing surgery. The surgery was not a success and so left her in constant pain and unable to walk. One day she pulled herself together and asked Jesus in Prayer why He did this to her. “Do you know what Jesus said to her?” she said: “As I was looking at the crucified Jesus and telling him about my bad knee, he said to me, ‘Mine is worse.’”
Paul gives us some important, practical advice in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always” and "Do not worry about anything" (4:6). Doesn't this sound like the famous hit by Bobby McFerrin, Don't Worry Be Happy? Even though we live in a world that is chock-full of toys, comforts and luxuries yet fewer and fewer people seem to experience true peace and satisfaction in their lives. Rather we continue to experience more and more worry and anxiety. Life is full of problems; as Bobby McFerrin admits, yet he goes on to advise us not to worry:
In every life we have some trouble/ When you worry you make it double/ Don't worry, be happy. Ain't got no place to lay your head/ Somebody came and took your bed/ Don't worry, be happy. The landlord say your rent is late/ He may have to litigate/ Don't worry, be happy. Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style/ Ain't got no gal to make you smile/ But don't worry, be happy.
Yet there is a big difference between St Paul and Bobby McFerrin on this issue. Bobby McFerrin tells us "Don't worry, be happy" without telling us why we should be happy or more importantly how to not worry. Paul, on the other hand tells us in Philippians both why we should be happy and how we can dissolve our worries and attain happiness. Here we have Paul's key to happiness.
Philippians 4:4-5 tells us why we should be happy and not worry. "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near" (4:4-5). We should be happy not because everything is going well with us right now, not because our health and finances are in great shape, not even because someone has bought us a big Christmas present, but simply because the Lord is near. We should be happy not because of what we have seen in the past or what we see today but because of what we shall see tomorrow. It is a happiness that springs from the faith and the hope that our Lord is coming to wipe away the tears from all eyes. "And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be well" to use the famous words of Julian of Norwich.
It is one thing to know why one should not worry and another to know how not to worry. How could one keep from worrying when one is surrounded by apparently insurmountable problems and difficulties? Paul gives us an answer in Philippians 4:6 "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (4:6) In every situation, in every difficulty or problem, in all circumstances, Paul knows one thing we should do rather than worry, and that is: take it to the Lord in prayer. Paul does not ask us to deny that we’ve got problems or to pretend as if they are not there. He urges us rather to face our problems squarely, not with worry but with prayer. Turn worries into prayers.
Learn to trust God in everything and in every situation. Learn to bring everything to God in prayer. Be strong; fear not. Rejoice with joyful song.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Welcome to the Magic Show

"Something very new and very unique is coming to our Parish on December 22nd at 6:30PM and we are all invited. It's Magic! Illusions, conjuring,sleight of Hand,MAGIC.Using sleights and gaffes and gizmos as his tools, Much like the painter's brushes and paints, Our Magician will use these tools to paint a magical picture and take us spectators on a journey through the Physically impossible. On that journey, we'll make may stops. These stops are the interaction between ourselves and the magician as we're puzzled and amazed. How will all this happen; what will Happen? You have to come and see because it all depends on the interaction between audience and Magician. This is a show for children of all ages, big and small, young and old. And don't be afraid: you know the Magician- It's Fr Sunny. Yes, from the exotic and mysterious land of India, from the mystical and mystifying East, Fr Sunny comes to us as a professional Priest magician. Don't miss this great show! Saturday, December 22nd at 6:30 PM in the Church Hall. Bring friends and relatives..."

Marvelous and beautiful announcement of Fr Sean at Church of St John the martyr church on December 10,2007

2nd Sunday in Advent Year A

Prepare the Way for the Lord
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
There have been moments in many of our lives when we have wishfully said, "If I could just start over." We might have wished that a bad decision could be undone so that we could begin again. We might have said something we truly regretted and wish we could take it back. We may be in a job or lifestyle that has made our lives drudgery or so complicated that we wish we could just quit or move away and start over.
We perhaps often dream of starting over, but we usually don't, saying things like, "I'm too old to start over," or, "Starting over would be great, but it is too risky."
Advent is a time of grace because it's a time that presents us with an opportunity to spiritually "start over."
As you and I travel we see clear signs of so many new sites being developed. Obviously, the first thing that has to be done is to prepare the land: low spots have to be filled or uneven areas leveled; sometimes boulders have to be removed and the trees either cut down or replanted elsewhere. In a word, before the foundations can be put in place and the structure built, the land or site must be made ready. And this is what John the Baptist is telling us right now: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth …”
There's a reason why John the Baptist preached at the Jordan River. It was more than just a source of water where he could baptize. The Jordan River was the place that represented the border between the desert - where the Jews wandered aimlessly for 38 years after centuries of slavery in Egypt- and the Promised Land. By preaching his message there, John was inviting the Jews of his day, to come out of the bondage of slavery, to leave their faults and wandering, sinful lives behind, and enter into the Promised Land full of God's blessings. The Baptist preaches the same thing to us today. He points us to a new exodus - from death to life, from sin to sanctity - and states very clearly that the path from the desert into the new Promised Land IS CONVERSION. A chance for us to Start Over.
God desires that during this time of Advent, we will allow ourselves to be drawn closer to Him and enter into a deeper relationship with Him. Yes, during this new Church year, the site of our spiritual relationship needs to be prepared. St. John the Baptist urges us to prepare the way of the Lord if we wish to meet the Lord. We cannot see God if there is any obstacles between us.
So you and I must identify what is the obstacle within us which hinders Christ’s drawing near and, therefore, which needs to be removed. Of course he was not talking about the hills or roads of Palestine. He was talking about the hills and roads in the heart of every person in every century that wants to meet the Lord. The obstacle will most likely be different for each one of us, but, in all honesty, we each have at least one. We must prayerfully and gently, not with anxiety, look within, examine our spiritual lives and identify the particular obstacles. To meet the Lord we need to prepare our hearts. What are the mountains and hills in our hearts that need to be leveled? It may be being too busy — “later on, Lord, right now I do not have time for You;” or it may be a false kind of independence — “I’ll do it my way;” or it may be pride — “Me first; I’m number one;” or it may be fear — “I’m afraid of what You may ask me to do, Lord;” or it may be discouragement — “I’ll never change” and “nothing helps.” In fact, discouragement is the evil one’s favorite tool, because once we are discouraged, we can so easily give up, which is exactly what devil wants us to do. What are the valleys in our hearts and lives that need to be filled in? We could think of trying to overcome an addiction or lack of confidence in oneself. What are the crooked roads in our hearts that need to be straightened? We could think of lying and deceitfulness and being dishonest with others. What are the uneven surfaces on the roads of our hearts that need to be resurfaced? We could think of bad language and being a bother to other people.
Whatever the obstacle is, we must identify it and then bring it to Jesus. Alone, we cannot remove it, but with His transforming grace, we can. More precisely, He will remove it for us.
A poet once wrote: “Of all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’” These sad words need never be said of our relationship with the Lord.
The scholar Chris Seeman explains: “It was customary for the inhabitants of a region to repair and beautify the roads by which an imperial official – or perhaps the king himself – was expected to visit his district.”
And so my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, how are we going to prepare the way for the Lord? First of all, we need to remember that Christ himself is the "Way." Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." So, preparing the way means being transformed into Christ. St. John the Baptist reveals to us by his own life how we make this preparation. He shows us that it requires a radical following of Christ, a dying to the things of this life, and a readiness to give up one's earthly life to possess him who is not only the Way, but also the Life.
John was fully aware of his mission, handed to him by his father: “You, child, will go before the Lord to prepare the way for him.” And he wanted others to share in that mission. Let us try to do our best and God will do the rest for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
St. Augustine said, "Christian, become what you are".
Mary is our model in this evolution of our faith, of this becoming what we are.
Although it was only on 8th Dec 1854 that Pope Pius IX solemnly declared that Our Lady was conceived free from original sin and that this was then a dogma of faith to be believed in by all the faithful, it had been the belief of the faithful for centuries before that. As it were to confirm the Pope’s pronouncement, when Our Lady appeared in Lourdes four years later in 1858 she said to St. Bernadette “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Our Lady herself confirmed the Pope’s declaration that she was immaculate.
We believe that this special grace was given to Our Lady in advance because of her Son Jesus dying and rising. Time means nothing to God. God who had planned that his Son would become flesh and dwell among us, also planned that an Immaculate Mother would give birth to Jesus.
Even from the moment of her conception she was free of original sin, the sin we are all born with. Sometimes mothers complain because the Church says children are born with original sin. They say “but my child has not sinned yet. How can the Church say my child has original sin?” But original sin is not the result of doing something wrong; original sin is a state of sinfulness that we inherit from humanity even though as infants we committed no sin. We believe that Mary was uniquely chosen by God and preserved from this sin. The Father loved Jesus so much that he chose a mother completely free of sin for him.
So we say she was pre-redeemed. It is as if she walking in the forest and there was pit up ahead. But she didn’t fall into it; she was saved from falling into it. The rest of us did fall into that pit of sinfulness and have to save from it by coming out of it. Mary and we are both saved from sinfulness by Jesus but in different ways.
Even though the Gospel is about the conception and birth of Jesus we can get hints of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception in it. Gabriel described Mary as “highly favored” or “full of grace” and the Lord is with her. Also she has “won God’s favor.” These are little glimpses of the special privilege God gave Mary in preserving her free from original sin.
We get another hint of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception in the Bible. Mary carried Jesus in her womb for nine months and we think of this especially during this Advent season. One of the titles given to Mary is Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was a chest made of wood for carrying the two stone tablets containing the commandments which God gave Moses (Ex 25:16). So we could say the ark contained the word of God and Mary contained Jesus who was the Word of God in her womb, so for that reason Mary is sometimes called Ark of the Covenant. In the Old Testament those who were called on to move the Ark of the Covenant could not be sinners because the ark was considered so holy since it carried God’s word (1 Chron 15:14). In like manner, Mary, who is the new Ark of the Covenant, could not be touched by sin. It makes perfect sense that God would specially prepare Mary in holiness to carry Jesus in her womb. God and sin are opposites, and God prepared the sinless Virgin Mary to be a fitting mother to Jesus his Son. It is also fitting that Mary who was free from sin from the first moment of her existence was assumed body and soul to the glory of heaven at the end of her earthly life.
Mary was certainly not following her own agenda or doing her own will or building her own kingdom when she said ‘Yes’ to the angel Gabriel to become the mother of Jesus. Think of the consequences it could have had for her. She could have been stoned to death according to the law of that time. For that reason Mary knew that from the human point of view she may not even be able to bring her pregnancy to its full term but she had faith to believe that what is impossible for us is possible for God. And so with that faith she said yes. She surrendered into the hands of God, and it really was surrendering because she did not know what the consequences would be. But she had faith to believe that no matter what difficulties would follow God would provide a way out and a remedy. Mary’s final words to the angel are a model for each of us, “I am the Lord’s servant, let what you have said be done to me.” And because Mary surrendered to God, Jesus came.
Mary shows us how to be a follower of Jesus, making a loving surrender into the hands of God who loves us. When we wonder if we can make such an act of trust and abandonment into the hands of God let us remember that when God calls us he also gives us the grace. Even when something seems impossible believe like Mary that when God calls you he will also supply you with the grace.
We are all faced with a decision like Mary. Will we surrender to God and allow God to do what from our human point of view seems impossible When Mary surrendered, Jesus came. Remember what St. Augustine said, "Christian, become what you are".
Let us pray together:
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,Blessed are thou among womenand blessed is the fruit of thy womb, JesusHoly Mary, mother of God,pray for us sinners,now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Photo by Fr Sunny from Metropolitan Museum

First Sunday of Advent-Hope Sunday
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Advent means "coming." As often as we say, "Thy kingdom come" we express our faith that there is a kingdom of love waiting for us.
Have you ever faced with a question from anyone “what is these wreath and candles with different colors mean?” I know you know it, but I just wanted to refresh our memories.
The circle of the green wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy and Love, which has no beginning and end. The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life.
Candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His Son. The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of advent, which themselves symbolizes the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ. The Advent color purple is the color of penitence fasting and solemn prayer as well as the color of royalty the Advent of the King, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Three Candles are purple, symbolizing penance, preparation and sacrifice; the Pink candle symbolizes the same but highlights the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, when we rejoice because our preparation is now half way finished.
The Light reminds us that Jesus is the Light of the world that comes into the darkness of our lives to bring newness, life and hope. It also reminds us that we are called to be a light to the world as we reflect the light of God’s grace to others (Isa. 42:6).
The Purple Candle is traditionally the candle of Expectation or Hope or Prophecy. The second purple Candle is the Peace Candle or Bethlehem or John the Baptist or Annunciation. Third Sunday Pink Candle is Joy Candle or Angels or Magi or proclamation. Fourth Sunday Purple Candle is the Candle of Love or Shepherds or Mary or Fulfillment.
The Center Candle is the White and is called the Christ Candle. It is traditionally lighted on Christmas Eve or Day. The Center location of the Christ Candle reminds us that the incarnation is the heart of the season giving light to the world.

Have you ever watched people waiting? Waiting for their turn: waiting the call from the doctor regarding the results of a biopsy; the letter of acceptance or rejection at a university or for a new position; the vigil at the bedside of a loved one. Everyone’s reaction to waiting is different and unique. For some the waiting seems reflective; for others it seems annoying; and there are points in our lives when the waiting becomes fearful while we stain to cling to hope. When we hear the word advent our bodies resound “waiting”. We are waiting for the Coming of our Advent King.
Advent calls to mind the two comings of Christ; His second at the end of the world and His first, which we re-present at Christmas, and because of His first coming then, the coming of Christ into our lives, each day of our lives, through prayer, the Scriptures, the Holy Eucharist and the other Sacraments, and our communion or solidarity which we share with one another as members in Christ’s Body, the Church.
If we prepare well to re-present and re-live the first coming of Christ, then, we shall be ready for His second coming. As St. Augustine said: "Let us not resist His first coming, so that we will not dread His second coming."
The gospel uses two images to make the point that “you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42b). One is the flood which overtook the unprepared people of Noah’s time. The other is the analogy of a thief in the night, who always comes unannounced. The Lord’s coming and the end of the world as we know it will occur suddenly and unexpectedly. It will come unannounced, springing a surprise on an unsuspecting world. Like a wise householder, therefore, we are urged to be watchful and ready.
What does it mean to be watchful and ready? Paul says in 1Thessalonians 5:6-8
So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep; sleep at night and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
To be awake, therefore, is to live a life of faithful service to the Lord, following the Lord’s commands and abiding in his grace.
Why is it futile for us to run about in search of a calendar for the end-times and the Lord’s coming? Because actually the great Day of the Lord can overtake us individually any day, any time. The day we die is the day we appear before God. Why should I be stockpiling for the Day of the Lord in two or three years time when I am not even sure of tomorrow? For every one of us there is an individual Day of the Lord, the day we appear in personal judgment before God and there is the general Day of the Lord, the day of general judgment of all humankind. The Day of the Lord is as near to each of us as the day of our death, which could be any day.
A challenge to re-think and focus our lives on God's goodness is summed up beautifully in the words of Cardinal Newman, "….. Few will open to me immediately when I knock. They will have something to do first; they will have to get ready. They will have to recover from the surprise and confusion which overtake them on the first news of my coming, and will need time to collect themselves, and summon about them their better thoughts and affections. They feel themselves very well off as they are; and wish to serve God as they are. They are satisfied to remain on earth; they do not wish to move; they do not wish to change."
"When we stand there in the presence of the Son of Man, will there be anything we will wish we had done? Now is the acceptable time." This is an appropriate question to ask ourselves as we begin the Season of Advent and a new liturgical year, a new Church year.
The second reading, from the Letter to the Romans, reminds us that now is the time to change our lives. When we think about the end of the world, when we think about the end of our own lives, too often we think that there is still plenty of time for us to convert and to begin to live completely in Christ. The Letter to the Romans wants us to know that NOW is the time to change. There is no other time. So Advent keeps pushing us to think deeply about life and about death. How am I living today? The way that I am living today is how I shall be if I die today. Do I want to be for eternity as I am today? Let us turn to Jesus our Lord and ask Him to transform us so that we may live with His love entirely, now and forever.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.Amen.

ST. ANDREW
St. Andrew is the patron saint for fishermen.
The first call that shaped Andrew's life was the very timing and place of his birth. Born as a Hebrew child in the time of Christ, Andrew grew up with his brother, Simon Peter, in Bethsaida, a city on the Northern edge of the lake of Galilee. It was a wealthy city because of its flourishing fishing industry. Bethsaida literally means House of Fishermen.
The second call that shaped Andrew's life came through John the Baptist. Andrew was an alert young man longing for the coming of the Messiah when he first heard the preaching of John.
His third call came from Jesus himself. Among the followers of John, Andrew and another disciple were the only ones we know of who responded when the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. They went and asked Jesus where he was staying, and he invited them to come and see. Andrew is the Protoclete, the first to be called by Jesus to deeper intimacy, and the first to bring the invitation to someone else, his brother, Simon Peter.
The fourth call that shaped Andrew's life was to follow Jesus, to be his disciple, a student in daily contact with Jesus, walking and talking with him, listening and learning from the Master, as from a Rabbi. His commitment to follow Jesus was without reserve, without regret, without recall.
The fifth call that changed Andrew's life was his selection by Jesus as one of the twelve apostles, to give witness, to preach, to bring others to Christ. Andrew, the student, was chosen to become a teacher sent by Christ.
His sixth call St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Jerome, and St. Paulinus tell us that after Pentecost Andrew became an apostle to people in the land of Greece and bordering countries.
The final call in Andrew's life was to martyrdom by crucifixion on an X shaped cross in Achaia. Here his untapped potential for making the ultimate sacrifice, the supreme witness to Christ, was fully realized. Andrew lived up to the meaning of his name with manly courage. "O good cross," he said, "I have ardently loved you, long have I desired and sought you, receive me gladly into your arms, take me from among men, present me to my Lord."
In addition to this scanty information, we learn from the fourth Gospel that on the occasion of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, it was Andrew who said: "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes: but what are these among so many?" (John 6:8-9); and when, a few days before Our Lord's death, certain Greeks asked Philips that they might see Jesus, Philip referred the matter to Andrew as to one of greater authority, and then both told Christ (John 12:20-22).
It is believed that after Our Lord ascended into Heaven, St. Andrew went to Greece to preach the gospel. He is said to have been put to death on a cross, to which he was tied, not nailed. He lived two days in that state of suffering, still preaching to the people who gathered around their beloved Apostle. Two countries have chosen St. Andrew as their patron - Russia and Scotland. It is believed that after Our Lord ascended into Heaven, St. Andrew went to Greece to preach the gospel. He is said to have been put to death on a cross, to which he was tied, not nailed. He lived two days in that state of suffering, still preaching to the people who gathered around their beloved Apostle. Two countries have chosen St. Andrew as their patron - Russia and Scotland.
Andrew's vocation, and ours as well, wasn't given all at once, but gradually. Seven calls from the Lord built one upon the other throughout the course of his life. Andrew's response to each call gave new shape to his life and prepared him for the next gift of God. This courageous boy, by purity of heart and docile obedience to God's will became in St. Bede's words, "The Introducer to Christ." He not only introduced his brother to Jesus, and the Greeks and Scythians, but each year his feast introduces us to the season of Advent, reminding us to wonder at our place in the great scheme of things, our untapped potential, and how Jesus will call us to even greater intimacy with him.

Solemnity of Christ the King
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Jesus never claimed to be a king. There is nothing in the scriptures that is clearer than that Jesus rejected the whole idea of being a king! Then you may have a question ; Why then do we have the feast of Christ the King? Why do we go against the words of Jesus and try to make him a king? Well, I don't think I have a perfect answer, but it is an answer, I guess. When Pope Pius XI established this feast in 1925 he wrote a document to explain why and he said: "Because the people of the day" -- of that time -- "had thrust/push Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives."
They were rejecting Jesus. Again the words of Pius XI: "And these [the ways of Jesus] had no place in public affairs or in politics." as long as individuals and states refuse to submit to the rule, or the way of our savior, there will be no hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations."
We usually think of a king as someone with a lot of authority and maybe with some personal privileges. Today’s Gospel scene, then, either corrects or confirms the image we have of Christ as King. After all, the description of Christ as King in St. Luke’s Gospel is surely very different and seemingly strange. Christ’s Kingly crown? A crown of thorns. His royal robe? A soldier’s uniform cloak, thrown around His bloody shoulders in mockery and contempt. Christ’s royal jewelry? Nails driven through His flesh. And His Kingly throne? A cross of shame between two criminals. Yes, a very different and seemingly strange sort of King. And yet, King He is.
Jesus reminded them that the son of man did not come into this world to be served but to serve and to give his service even to the point of giving his life.
That is what we see on the cross. He is hanging on the cross, and even there he is being a servant, reaching out to that criminal who recognizes him for who he really is. Not as a king, but as a son of God. Jesus serves him by responding, "Yes, today you will be with me in paradise." Jesus was serving even to the point of giving his life.
Most of us don’t countenance very well the idea of subjecting ourselves to another’s power. Instead, we think about ourselves as being “lord” of our lives, oftentimes behaving under the false pretense that we really and truly are lord of our lives. All too frequently, however, life has its own way of teaching us some very harsh lessons through which discover that we really and truly are not the “lord” of our lives. People and things we’ve taken for granted suddenly disappear like the flowers of summer and we find ourselves standing alone in the autumn of our lives. We surely do like to think that we are lord of our lives; but, the truth is, we don’t even have the power to protect ourselves from the common cold!
As Pope John Paul II said: “Christ reigns over the universe, which he created. He is king because he is Creator. The Church proclaims the work of creation and ‘through the work of creation’; she proclaims ‘the reign of God’ in the world”
When Pilate asked-- "Are you a king?" -- In a sense Jesus says, "Alright, you say it. I am a king." But then immediately he wants Pilate to know that he is not a king in the sense of anyone having sovereignty over another, not a king with power, coercion, armies, wealth, prestige. No, Jesus only agrees to be called king according to the interpretation that he gives, "Yes, I'm a king, but the source of my being a king doesn't come from this world." He makes the obvious point, "Of course if I were a king like your king I would have an army. I wouldn't be a helpless person standing here bound in front of you. People would be fighting on my behalf, but I'm not that kind of a king. My kingdom does not come from this world. It's not out of this source. The only kind of reign I have is one that comes from God." And so therefore as Jesus defines his being a king, "I am a witness to the truth and if only you would hear my truth, the world could be changed. The reign of God could happen."
As one who gives witness to the truth, Jesus reminds us that the only power God uses, and that he would use as king, is the power of truth, the power of love. That's what can change everything. Not violence. Not force. Not coercion. Love. Being the shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Being the one who declares to his disciples, "Greater love than this no one has than to lay down your life for your friend. And you are my friend." So he's telling them, "I lay down my life for you." That's the kind of kingship Jesus exercises. Love . . . caring for people . . . reaching out to the poor and giving them their dignity and their worth.
God reminds us in the book of Isaiah, “Your thoughts are not my thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts” (Is 55:8-9).
Even one of the crucified criminals, the one that tradition calls Gestas, joins in on the ridicule. The Gospel states that he “reviled Jesus,” and each one of them said in their own words, “If you truly are Christ the King, then let’s see you save yourself.”
There is of course one more person in today’s Gospel that we cannot forget. Indeed, this is the one we should remember above all, since he is the one that is humble enough to realize that something greater is happening here: the one tradition calls Dismas, the good thief. What is his response to the idea that this crucified person next to him is a king? Recognizing somehow his kingly identity, he says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Dismas had faith, that is, he had evidence of things unseen. And with this act of faith, Jesus responds with the words that we would all like to hear at the end of our earthly life, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
And so, my dear brothers and sisters, who is on the throne of your life? Where is your heart set? Who or what is your priceless treasure? If it’s ourselves, then we’re committing idolatry. If it’s worldly honors, power or material things, what profit is it to gain the whole world, yet lose your soul? If it is our spouse or family, you will be able to love them even more when Christ is at the center, teaching you how to love as He loves.
If it is anything or anyone but Christ the King, be not afraid to approach the throne of mercy, for as St. Paul reminds us in today’s second reading, “God the Father delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
So my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, crown Jesus as Lord and King of your life.
Crown Him as King over your greatest worries and fears.
Crown Him as King over your seemingly insurmountable addictions or vice.
Crown Him as King over all your earthly blessings as well.
Crown Him as King over your precious family and relationships.
Crown Him as King over your life and your eternal destiny.
So that, at our last breath, we too may hear the Lord say, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2007

Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to you my dear brothers and sisters on this Thanksgiving Day. This is a good thanksgiving celebration coming together before the Lord to give thanks to Him for all what he is doing for us .Always look on the bright side of life that will keep us going.
Today when we look at our life thanking God we realize that "Our Cup Runes Over". God blessed us with everything.Because our cup runes over and we can drink from the saucer, we should remember those whose cups are empty and have been for a long time. They are not far from us. They may live in your own community or even be in your own church (maybe your own family). There are certainly many out there all over the world who have so little. We have so much. Let us find ways to share the abundance of our blessings with them. That is perhaps one of the best ways to celebrate the Thanksgiving day today.
This Thanksgiving Day is essentially acting out of an attitude: An attitude of gratitude. It is a great national recognition that we have been blessed by God.
Today, Thanksgiving Day is a family time. If you have ever been forced by circumstances to be away from your family on Thanksgiving Day, you have experienced a true feeling of loneliness. Thanksgiving Day defines family. We gather together and ask the blessing, we say grace, thanking God for the bounty and for His promise for continued blessings. Hardly anybody skips grace on this great day.Learning to be thankful, whether to God or to other people, is the best vaccination against taking good fortune for granted. And the less you take for granted, the more pleasure and joy life will bring you. If you never give a moment's thought to the fact that your health is good, that your children are well-fed, that your home is comfortable, that your nation is at peace, if you assume that the good things in your life are ''normal'' and to be expected, you diminish the happiness they can bring you. By contrast, if you train yourself to reflect on how much worse off you could be, if you develop the custom of counting your blessings and being grateful for them, you will fill your life with cheer. Be thankful. Don't take the gifts in your life for granted. Remember - as the Pilgrims remembered - that we are impoverished without each other, and without God. Whoever and wherever you are this Thanksgiving, the good in your life outweighs the bad. If that doesn't deserve our gratitude, what does? Always look on the bright side of life because really and truly our cup is running over. Let us finish with the blessing prayer of King Solomon (I Kings8: 55-61). “May the Lord, Our God, be with us as he was with our fathers and may he not forsake us nor cast us off. May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may follow him in everything and keep the commands, statues, and ordinances which he enjoyed on our fathers.”
May God Bless us all. Happy Thanksgiving Day to you all.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

33rd sunday year C

Your perseverance will save you.

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Today's readings seem to be all about terrible loss, nightmare, and calamity. Yet they should not be interpreted as bad news. They are given to remind us that in the face of loss and trials, God cares for each of us, and is willing to be with us. As we are coming to the end of the Church year, we are reminded that God has given us Wisdom.
We should not confuse the wisdom that God gives us with intelligence; or understanding everything that happens. The wisdom that God gives us is a certain way of looking at the world. Prophet Malachi lived in a time of terrible corruption and idolatry. It was such a dangerous time that Malachi is not even his real name. Yet in the midst of all the troubles, Malachi reminds the people that God has given them the wisdom to see things as they really are. He wants them to see that even in the midst of these struggles, God is sending his healing love to help them stand firm. We too are given that wisdom; for in the midst of difficulties, the person of faith does not simply complain, but looks for signs of God's healing love.
Our God is a good God who cares us about us. There is a prayer of a devotee to the Lord Vishnu:
“Lord, I ask you pardon me for three major sins; first, I went on pilgrimage to your many shrines, oblivious of your presence everywhere; second, I so often cried to you for help, forgetting that you are more concerned than I am about my welfare; and finally, here I am asking for forgiveness when I know that our sins are forgiven before we commit them.”
If we are committed to the Lord, Jesus, then we must trust in Him entirely. Our lives, our future, and present—all is in His hands and we must trust Him. Jesus said: Your perseverance will save you. When we ask for something from the good God, St. Thomas Aquinas says we will always obtain it so long as the prayer meets four conditions: 1) we pray for things necessary for salvation; 2) we pray for ourselves; 3) we pray piously; 4) we pray perseveringly. When these four elements concur in prayer, we will always obtain our request.1)When we pray for things related to our salvation, we meet the first condition of infallible prayer.
So, suppose a man prays to obtain some illicit pleasure from God. God will not hear him, for God will not help a man in sin. But suppose a man prays to overcome his poverty or recover his health. God may or may not hear him in reference to his salvation. If acquired riches or recovered health should assist the man to heaven, God will hear him, otherwise, He will not. For riches, health, fame, glory are so many non-things in comparison with heaven. And many have abandoned God when their health or wealth returned and now suffer hell fire, forever.2) Prayer for ourselves when we pray for something for ourselves we meet the second condition of infallible prayer.
When I pray for myself I humble myself and freely surrender my will to the will of Almighty God ~ a prerequisite for gaining salvation.
God honors man’s free will; He will never force a human will to love Him.
3) Prayer which is pious: Another word for pious is devout. The pious or devout man is one who wholly subjects himself to a superior. In religious terms, the pious man promptly gives his will over to things in the service of God. Contrary to this spirit of prayer is the man who asks to be liberated from a bad habit but does not remove the occasions of his sin. This man is not pious, but impious; and his prayer will go unheard.
4) Prayer which is persevering: Only God really knows what we need and when we need it while we guess and want it right away.
When we pray with unwavering patience, however, we fulfill the last condition of infallible prayer. And such is enjoined in Sacred Scripture: “We ought always to pray,” (Lk 18:1); “pray without ceasing,” (1 Thess. 5:17)
Perseverance in the spiritual life is a gift of God that no man can merit (Trent). But St. Augustine says we can obtain it by prayer: “if we ask for it daily, we may daily receive it.”
If our prayer is persevering, meaning continual and unflagging, then God will answer us in His time. And we will receive nothing better than what God gives, when He gives it. Our perseverance in prayer will save us and God will be always with us to help us.
If at first you don't succeed, then try, try again"!
Jesus tells us "not a hair of your head will be harmed." God wants to give you fullness of peace and life. So hang in there! Have courage; keep alive the patient endurance you need to keep struggling for peace and for justice in this broken world. Let us pray for the coming of the One who says don't be afraid, not a hair of our heads will be lost.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.