St Augustine

The love of worldly possessions is a sort of bird line, which entangles the soul, and prevents it flying to God." -Saint AugustineSt. Augustine was born on November 13, 354, in Tagaste, North Africa. He was the eldest son of St. Monica and Patricius (a pagan Roman official). he devoted himself to literary pursuits. It was in these pursuits that he abandoned the Christian faith. One of the first heresies Augustine was involved with was Manichaeanism. Manichaeans believed that evil was caused by an outside force, thus making people relieved of guilt for their sins. A turning point came in St. Augustine's life when at Milan, he attended the mass celebrated by St. Ambrose. The sermon of St. Ambrose impressed St. Augustine very much. This experience, plus the incessant and sacrificing prayers of St. Monica, brought Augustine back to Christianity. He was baptized, together with his son, in the Easter Vigil of year 387.
Of the two great teachers in the Catholic Catechism, St. Augustine and St. Thomas of Aquinas are the most popularly quoted. St. Augustine is quoted 85 times, while St. Thomas quoted is 58 times. Three writings which bear much of his teaching and spirituality are "The Confessions of St. Augustine", "The City of God", and "On the Trinity".
Two texts in scripture are good sources of St. Augustine's spirituality: the "eyes of your heart being enlightened" (Eph 1:18) and "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mt 5:8). From these two scriptural texts we see that for St. Augustine, the heart seems to be the inner person, the soul. And for us to see God, the eyes of the heart, i.e., the soul, need to be healed and they need light. At first, Augustine thought that this vision of God comes only after death. He eventually realized that even on earth, God may be seen by one who has been unified by a single longing for God. This single longing for God and the healing of the soul by faith though is not, according to St. Augustine, enough to see God. There is need of light to see God. And this light, according to him, comes from loving our neighbor.
Many of us are like Augustine who described it as the time when God was with us, but we were not with God. When we were younger, we were busy with our minute quests, as the Pharisees who focused on the details of the law. We were busy pursuing our academic careers, or running after our dreams. We were tracking events and chasing our crushes. Augustine said that we “go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and [we] pass by [our]selves without wondering.”
Late do we actually come to love God. Only after all these pursuits and this restless running, when we find ourselves tired and empty, searching our identities and our place in the sun, do we finally stop, look and wonder. The God we were looking for, we find in our hearts, closer to us than we to ourselves.
We conclude remembering the psalm for today:Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know the whole of it. Behind me and before, you hem me in and rest your hand upon me.

Assumption Of Mother Mary

Happy Feast Day my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

This feast celebrates our Catholic belief that Mary, when her earthly life was ended, was taken body and soul into heaven.
When someone announced to Jesus that his mother and brothers were there to see him; He said, “Who are my mother and my brothers and sisters? They are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
In other words, what is important is not the biological ties of family. What is important is the spiritual relationship with Jesus. Mary brought Jesus into the world. And so must we. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!
Late Pope John Paul II said, "It is easy to be consistent for a day or two. It is difficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life. It is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm; it is difficult to be so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole of life can be called faithfulness. Mary's 'fiat' in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent 'fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross".
Even before the Angel Gabriel appeared with the glory of God calling her to be the Mother of God she was a woman of faith and hope. Before the Son was born she was a woman of faith and hope.
What does the Assumption of Mary mean? This is a Feast of Resurrection and the promise of salvation to all faithful believers who do the will of God on earth. today, we have the woman of hope raised up before us to assure us that our hope is not in vain- cast your care upon the Lord, hope in the Lord and He will raise you up.
When looking for Hope, walk with the Mother of Hope, when needing rest against the horrors of life, accept the consolation of the woman of Sorrows who is crowned the Queen of Heaven and Earth. She testifies to the Mercy of God from Age to Age, a mercy whose Name is Jesus.
Mary is in Heaven. However, she is also still among us, singing the praises of God with us... Could a mother forget her children? Mary is the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus, but she is also the Mother of us all! She intercedes for us to the Son and pleads to us to love the Son. While Jesus has told John the Disciple, “Behold the Mother,” and we are to contemplate her vocation and her holiness, she is constantly pointing to the Son- “Do whatever He tells you.”
When Elizabeth saw Mary, through the Spirit of the living God, she recognized Mary, this unmarried teenage girl, as "the mother of my Lord," and began to prophesy.
When that happened, Mary also began to sing in the Spirit, exalting and worshiping God. It is this song that is recorded as the Magnificat. Although Mary was just a poor peasant girl, she had been brought up in a godly home, where Mary was thoroughly versed in the Holy Scriptures. Like Zechariah, Simeon, Anna, and others, Mary was looking forward to God’s redemption of Israel. So when she heard Elizabeth’s greeting, she was filled with the Holy Spirit and Scripture came pouring out of her heart.
Listen, then, to Mary’s knowledge of the Lord as she magnifies the Lord. Psalm 103:1 tells us, "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name," and elsewhere we are told that out of the abundance of the heart, our mouths will speak. Mary was filled with God and his grace; thus, she sang about God and his attributes. Let us take just one attribute of God.
The first attribute Mary speaks of is the might and power of God. He is the mighty God, ho dunatos, and in Luke 1:49 she sings, "For the Mighty One has done great things for me." Mary’s God was God Almighty, the Creator of the ends of the earth. There is no one mightier than her God. He alone is able, and with him alone nothing is impossible.
God himself spoke of this aspect of his character to Abraham in Genesis 18:14, asking, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" In Psalm 115:3 the psalmist says, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." In Matthew 19:26 the Lord Jesus Christ himself said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." The apostle Paul recognized this and wrote in this manner in Ephesians 3:20, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. . . ."
He alone is almighty, and Mary knew it.
Let me ask you: Are you weak? The answer, of course, is yes. But that is not the end. He is strong, and it is in him that we trust. What about the devil and his demons—are they strong? Yes. Martin Luther recognized that in his great hymn, "A Mighty Fortress," and all of us must recognize it. But our God is stronger than all the forces of this world. Remember what Luther said? "One little Word shall fell him." That Word is the name of Jesus.
Knowing who God is, Mary realized that she had nothing to fear. We too have nothing to fear as well. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us, because our God is mighty. Thus, we can say with Paul, "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
Let us end our reflection by saying the most beautiful prayer: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence, one of the deacons of the Roman Church, was one of the victims of the persecution of Valerian in 258, like Pope Sixtus II and many other members of the Roman clergy. During the persecution of Emperor Valerian, in a valiant attempt to continue the support of the poor, Pope Sixtus handed over the wealth of the Church of Rome to his Archdeacon, Lawrence, as he was taken to his own martyr’s death.
On 10 August Lawrence was commanded to appear for his execution, and to bring along the treasure with which he had been entrusted by the pope. When he arrived, the archdeacon was accompanied by a multitude of Rome's crippled, blind, sick, and indigent. He announced that these were the true treasures of the Church. “God do I worship, him alone do I serve and I do not fear your torturing.” Lawrence was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted his flesh little by little, but Lawrence was burning with so much love of God that he almost did not feel the flames. In fact, God gave him so much strength and joy that he even joked. "Turn me over.”I'm done on this side!" And just prior to his death, he said, "It's cooked enough now." Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic Faith might spread all over the world. With that, he went to His heavenly reward.
It is through the ambassadors of Christ, believers who have been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Holy Spirit, spread the Kingdom of God. IT is through them the Kingdom of God grows. It is not just the heroic saints and Martyrs who build the church. We all are part of the building process. If we sleep from our duties as Christian then the Kingdom of God will not grow. We have a duty and we are all called to be the ambassadors of Christ by our baptism and confirmation. Yes dear brothers and sisters as we celebrate the feast of St Lawrence the Face of Christ to someone in need today. They may be your family members, your neighbors, your friends. Show the world that the Christian life really is the most life giving and meaningful way to live.

Feast of Transfiguration
The transfiguration of Jesus in our Gospel was not just about Jesus. It is a vision of the glorious future to which we are all called. In his first letter John writes,
“we are already children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.” (1 John 3:2)
We need to eradicate selfishness from our lives if we really want to be transformed into real Christians. The ultimate goal of the Christian way of life is transformation into Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. Selfishness has to be dealt with very seriously. We need to die to our egotism so that we may become more and more like the Risen Lord. What are some practical ways in which we can remove selfishness from our lives? We can start with a short list of actions that will certainly change our lives if we really put these things into practice.
First of all, we can try to always be in a good mood. We all wake up at times in a bad mood. Smile; be of good cheer; break the cycle of bad moods with self-control. Secondly, we can always make an effort to anticipate the needs of others. Each of us can start by being attentive to the needs of others while eating meals and perhaps begin offering to help wash the dishes. Thirdly, we can focus on others and try to avoid always talking about ourselves. We can begin by really listening to others. By our manner we could show our interest in what others have to say. Fourthly, we can try to always make a point of greeting everybody, even strangers. Fifth, we might volunteer time in our parish and other charitable organizations. There is always something that needs to be done. Another way to break the cycle of personal egotism is to be generous with our money. We need to practice tithing. How can we expect God to be generous with us, if we are not generous with him?
There are three transfigurations or transformations that take place in our journey towards eternity.
The first change begins at Baptism. The immersion into the baptismal waters symbolizes death and rebirth. The sacrament of Baptism washes away original sin and we are re-created. We are transformed into new creatures. The old self dies, and the new person in Christ Jesus is born.
The second transformation takes place by our victory over the trials and tribulations of life. Every challenge, every difficulty, every moment of suffering, is an opportunity to grow. Transformation only takes place through suffering.
The third transformation takes place at death. The suffering that the final moment brings upon us, makes way for an amazing transformation. Eternal life in heaven, perhaps after a period of further transformation in purgatory, is granted to those who have been found worthy. The last transformation or transfiguration takes place at the Second Coming when our body is reunited with our soul. What awaits us is beyond anything that we can imagine. "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8: 18).
Every time we gather for the Eucharist we experience a moment of transfiguration where our divine Lord is transfigured before our eyes in the forms of bread and wine.

SAINT IGNATIUS
St. Ignatius was born in 1491. He was born in the Castle of Loyola. He died at Rome in 1556. Perhaps ironically, he died so suddenly he did not receive the last Sacraments which means you can become a saint even though you happen to die without the last Sacraments. He was canonized in 1622 and 300 years later was declared, by Pope Pius XI, the heavenly Patron of all retreats and spiritual exercises.
In the deepest sense of the word, Ignatius was a convert. He lived a life that was very worldly. We have official records of at least one illegitimate child. In other words, he was another Augustine a century later. He was a soldier by profession and, as later on he would at such length explain to his followers, God will do the most unexpected and unpleasant things in order to bring a soul to Himself. In Ignatius' case, he was fighting a war against the French. During a battle at Pamplona he was badly wounded; one of his legs was quite shattered. Incidentally the Spaniards, once Ignatius was wounded, fled. (He was their leader) Then months of convalescence; his convalescence converted him. You might say the Society of Jesus was born on a sick bed. He was a great reader of those days.The "Life of Christ" changed Ignatius' life After our Lady's first appearance to Ignatius he got surprisingly healed, which confirmed him in his mission. He always carried a limp to the day of his death, but he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Monserrat, where he made his peace with God. Some distance away from Monserrat, in order to pull himself away from all worldly things to go into meditation, silence, he went to a cave called Manresa and, ever since for the last four hundred years, many retreat houses conducted by the Society of Jesus are called "Manresa."
Let me just say few features of great St. Ignatius' spirituality. There are many to mention but we will just think of three.
I. The first feature: is that the Person of Christ, the human being, the Son of Mary, Jesus of Nazareth, because He is God Himself in human form, that Man's virtues are God's attributes. Everything that Jesus did, from His crying as a Babe in the cradle to His getting tired and falling asleep, to His agony in the Garden, all of that is a pattern for us to imitate. Among the three titles that Christ gave Himself: "I am the Way the Truth and the Life," Ignatius concentrated on Christ the Way, the Model, the Pattern, the Example, the One Whom, if we follow we will become like Him and that means we will become holy.
II. Second Feature: Ignatius was a contemporary of all the major Protestant rebels: Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Cranmer, all of them. And he saw that at rock bottom Protestantism was a rebellion against the Papacy. And as a consequence, the second notable feature of his spirituality is his own personal, great personal devotion to the person of the Holy Father and his teaching and preaching and insisting that you are only as good a Christian – and you dare not call yourself a catholic, unless you are loyal (that means obedient) to the Vicar of Christ.
III. Third feature: The cardinal heresy of the Western world is the denial of human freedom. Ignatius then, you would expect to stress man's free will. Of course we need divine help. We need divine light and strength, who doubts it? But we must want to cooperate and we are not coerced to do so. In Ignatius' vocabulary a saint is a person who wants to be a saint. It is both that simple and that awful. Hell is very real and it is no injustice, though it's a great mystery. Why not? Because God gave us a free will to either serve Him or reject Him. And if we want to, as every page of the Exercises brings out, we can be either just sufficiently cooperative with God's grace to keep out of hell – a big risk needless to say; you're taking a chance. That's why there could be only one motto for St. Ignatius which he bequeathed to his sons: "for the greater glory of God." That comparative degree is at the heart of Ignatius' spirit. Not just for the glory of God or the great glory of God, but the greater. "My friend," he would tell us, "exert yourself; push a little harder; do more."
"More than what?"
"More than you're doing."
"But I'm doing all that I can."
"Try harder!"
That's Ignatius. Because we have that all but almighty power called freedom. It is the power that can say "no" to the Almighty, or can say a weak, whimpering "yes" or can shout from the mountain tops, "YES."

St John the Martyr Chruch

St John the Martyr

Happy Feast of St James

St James
I was studying we were three people who were called Sunny. When some one comes to see me they had to ask” We have three sunny here. Which one do you want to see?" In the first Christian community there were five or six disciples with the same name: James, the son of Zebedee, (Mt. 10:2); James, the son of Alphaeus, (Mt. 10:3); James, who was a cousin of Jesus, (Mt. 27:56); James, whose brother, Jude, wrote the shortest letter in the New Testament; James, who was father of the apostle Thaddeus, (Lk 6:16); and James, the disciple who wrote one of the Epistles. The first two were apostles: one whom St. Mark calls "the younger," (Mk. 15:40), the son of Alphaeus; and the older apostle, whom we honor in today's feast as James the Greater, son of Zebedee.
St James was a very privileged apostle like St Peter. He was one of the special apostle That Jesus picked up to be with Him all the time . St James was one of three witnesses of the Transfiguration of Christ in Mt. Tabor, also a witness to Jesus' agony in the garden. He witnessed to all the major miracles of Jesus. But we are not happy with the blessings we get every day. When we get one thing then we thrust for the other. We all need the material things and we forget the graces we receive every day in our life. He got all the privilege to be with Jesus but then they want to get the left and right position of the kingdom of Jesus. We all love to have the power and position and Money and we forget the fact what our St Paul says in Timothy “we cannot take anything with us when we leave, but if we have food and covering we may rest content. Those who want to be rich fall into temptations and snares and many foolish harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and perdition. The love of money is the root of all evil." (I Timothy 6: 5-10)
But after the resurrection of Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit St James realized what he said to Jesus that he is ready to drink the Chalice. May be that' s why he was the first to give his life for the Christian faith when Herod Agripa sent for him to be decapitated around the year 42.
James's symbol, the scallop shell, became the badge of those who went on pilgrimage, and still serves so: . Sir Walter Raleigh wrote the pilgrim's prayer, which he "supposed to be written by one at the point of death, the pilgrimage we all have tickets for, to the land from which no traveller returns. "Give me my scallop shell of quiet, My staff of faith to walk upon, my scrip of joy, immortal diet, my bottle of salvation; my gown of glory, hope's true gage, and thus I'll take my pilgrimage."
James was greater not only in age and size, but also by being the first apostle to shed his blood for Christ.
A great commentator on the New Testament, William Barclay, writes that one Roman coin had a picture of an ox facing both an altar and a plough. The inscription said, "Ready for either." The ox was ready to be slain on the altar of sacrifice or to labor for many years on the farm. So it happened that James was quickly martyred, while his brother, John, labored for Christ until he was nearly a hundred years old, dying of old age. As Christians we may be called to follow Jesus by an early, premature death, suffering violence without striking back, or by the labor of a long life, struggling to be faithful without growing cold in our love. May we be ready for either.
Happy Feast Day.

Elmer Mission

for more photos :http://picasaweb.google.com/vincentocarm/ElmerMission

prophet Elijah

Prophet Elijah

Today the Carmelites celebrate their solemn feast of Prophet Elijah, the spiritual source of the Order of Carmelites.
Each of us experience trials and difficulties in our lives. Maybe we are having problems at work, or turmoil in our families, or challenges with our health. In struggling with these trials and difficulties we often can feel lost and confused, not knowing where to turn.
The Prophet Elijah, who we hear about in today’s first reading, knew exactly how we felt. The story occurs in the 19th chapter of First Kings, Elijah's showdown with the prophets of Baal, and his victory over them, results in their deaths, and Elijah flees Israel when the Jezebel promises to have him killed. At one point he is so miserable that he prays for death, but an angel gives him food and drink, and leads him to a cave on Mt. Horeb for refuge. God finds him inside the cave, and begins to talk with him.
1 Kings 19:11 He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, and after the wind an earthquake, then a fire, but the LORD was not in the wind, not in earthquake, not in fire; and after the fire a still, small voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said [again], "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 He answered [again], "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." 15 Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.
Often we all forget this second part of the story. We remember that Elijah heard the still, small voice after the wind, the earthquake, and the fire passed, but we forget what it said. And basically it said, "I know they've threatened to kill you, and you're afraid for your life, but I want you to go back." We hear God say that to Elijah, and we remember why we might not want to hear what God is saying to us. It can be threatening to know what God is asking us. God so rarely asks us to do what's easy. The irony is, having heard it from God; it no longer seems to matter as much whether it's easy or hard.
The wind and the earthquake and the fire, they might be Elijah's fear, his despair, and his anger. But he kept listening on down to the deeper level where discernment happens, and he heard the most frightening thing of all: that God was asking him to go back. That God was asking him to go back to Israel, to face Ahab and Jezebel who had sworn to take his life, that God was asking him to up the ante by leading a rebellion and installing a new king there.
The underneath level, the level of discernment, held a more frightening message than the wind, the earthquake, and the fire.
When we pay attention to God, no matter what rages at the surface, I can find the underneath level where God tells me, "I know this is hard, but sit here a while longer, and be surprised at what happens. And I'll be keeping you company right here." At the same time, we understand that like Elijah we did not come here only to bring something. We have come to find something, to find someone. True, Elijah came into the desert as a prophet, as one who speaks for God and who represents God. But above all, he came to find God, to have a new experience of God’s love for him.
John Cardinal Newman discovered this real dependence on God after a serious illness, and penned these beautiful words:Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,Lead thou me on; The night is dark, and I am far from home,Lead thou me on.Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to seeThe distant scene; one step enough for me….I loved to choose and see my path; but nowLead thou me on.

July 16 Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our lady Of Mount Carmel: Star of The Sea
In the words of St. Louis Grignion de Montfort in True Devotion: "Mary is the sanctuary and repose of the Holy Trinity, where God dwells more magnificently and more divinely than any other place in the universe, not excepting his dwelling between the Cherubim and Seraphim."
Mount Carmel is about 20 miles from Nazareth and overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. It was considered a symbol of blessing and beauty for its rich vegetation (Isaiah 35.2), and a place of sacred memory to remember the second covenant between God and Israel.
The prophet Elijah prayed at Mount Carmel for rain, which was announced by a little cloud rising from the sea (1 Kings 18,41-46). The little cloud was subsequently identified as a symbol for Mary and eventually developed into the title Star of the Sea.
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite priest, in Cambridge, England, on July 16, 1251who had begged her to provide protection for the Carmelites, who were suffering persecution at the time and gave him the scapular with the following words, which are preserved in a fourteenth century narrative: "This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire."
Wearing the Brown Scapular is not an automatic guarantee of salvation. It is not a magical charm, nor is it an excuse to live in a way contrary to the teachings of the Church. It is a sacramental, which has been approved by the Church for over seven centuries and is a sign of one's decision to follow Jesus as did Mary, the perfect model of all the Disciples of Christ. In addition to being an introduction into the Family of Carmel, the Brown Scapular is an expression of our belief that we will meet God in eternal life, aided by the intercession and prayer of Mary.
On July 16, 2003, at the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Pope John Paul II, speaking at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, said:
“I hope the scapular will be for everyone, especially the faithful who wear it, a help and a defense in times of danger, a seal of peace and a sign of Mary’s care.”
The twin goals of the Carmelite order, according to medieval authors, were to offer to God a heart free from all stain of actual sin, and to experience, even in this world, the supernal joys of union with God. These goals, of course, are beyond human strength, and completely impossible to obtain on our own. God, therefore, has given us His Mother to be our guide up the mountain of perfection. While all are not called to the contemplative life, all the baptized are called to pray and strive for holiness.
This ancient title, Star of the Sea, of Our Lady goes back to St. Jerome, in reference to the passage from 1Kings 18: 41-45, when atop Mt. Carmel, Elijah beheld a “little cloud rising from the sea” which presaged the rains that would end the drought in Israel. (Jerome originally referred to Our Lady as “Stella Maris” or “drop of the sea” - which some theorize may have been lost in transcribing the texts over the years.) The Fathers interpreted this cloud as prefiguring the Virgin prophesied by Isaiah who would bring forth the Messiah. Carmelite hermits agreed and built a chapel atop Mt. Carmel naming it “Stella Maris”. Hence, the title “Stella Maris” and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel may be considered synonymous.
St. Bernard on Our Lady, Star of the Sea. “If the winds of temptation arise;If you are driven upon the rocks of tribulation - look to the star, call on Mary; If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of rivalry, look to the star, call on Mary.”
All the Carmelites pray every day the Prayer of St. Simon Stock on Mary called Flos Carmeli :-
O Beautiful flower of Carmel,
Fruitful vine,
Splendor of heaven,
Star of the Sea,
Holy and singular,
Who brought forth the Son of God,
Still a Virgin remaining,
Assist us in our necessities.
Help and protect us.
Show thyself our Mother.
I wish you all the happy Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and end with one of the most ancient prayers to Our Lady, found scribbled in the catacombs during some lost moment of terror:
We fly to thy protection. O Holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers. O ever glorious and blessed Virgin.
Queen, Beauty of Carmel!
Give us a sign of thy protection!

Trust in Jesus

Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called Failure, a loop called Confusion, speed bumps called Friends, red lights called Enemies, caution lights called Family. You will have flats called Jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination, an engine called Perseverance, insurance called Faith, a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called Success.

231st Independence day in America

In God we trust
The Commander in Chief in the American Revolution and the Signer of the Constitution and the First President of the United States George Washington said “ It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
Today, our nation celebrates its 231st birthday, the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. The "stars and stripes" was adopted as our national flag the following year, June 14, 1777. The United States' Constitution was ratified in 1788, 219 years ago. In 1954, both Houses of Congress adopted the resolution to add the words "under God"" to the pledge, which President Eisenhower signed into law on Flag Day of that year.
In a subsequent message to the Knights of Columbus, President Eisenhower put a very different emphasis on the phrase "under God": "These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded."
I think now, fifty three years later, it is appropriate to do a "reality check": do these words succeed in keeping us humble. Do they effectively focus our minds and hearts on the spiritual and moral principles of human dignity?
Even more problematic than the word "God" is the word "under." "Under" means submission. Do we really live as a nation "under" God? Is the humility that President Eisenhower spoke of in any way valued among our national virtues? Do we, even the Christians of our nation, truly seek to discover and follow God's will in relation to affairs of national interest?
Are we under God trusting in Him helping each other as one Family and we say together we stand. When we stand together we need to know the pain of others. How many are deeply wounded and in need of healing? How many are living their lives without hope, without faith and without love? Every day is a harvest day.
Mother Teresa has this to say about this matter. "Many today are starving for ordinary bread, but that is not the only hunger there is. There is another hunger - hunger to be wanted, to be loved, to be recognized. Nakedness too is not just the want of clothes. It is also the loss of dignity, loss of purity, loss of respect. And there is homelessness which is not just want for a house made of bricks, but the homelessness of being rejected, of being unwanted, of being unloved in a throwaway society".

When we celebrate the Freedom are we really free? Freedom is not an American idea. Freedom is God's idea and God's plan for our lives! Let's read together what Saint Paul tells us today in our second reading, in his letter to the Galatians: Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (Galatians 5:1)
There are two kinds of freedom, and God is concerned about both. First, there is outer freedom. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt, and in the book of Exodus, God says: "I am the Lord, and I will free you from your slavery in Egypt." (Exodus 6:6, NLT) God was concerned that his people were slaves, that they were being oppressed and that they were not free. Today, God is still concerned about outer freedom – that many people live enslaved to poverty, to injustice, to oppression.
God also is concerned about inner freedom. God does not want us to be enslaved to our sin. Maybe this is the greatest slavery and the greatest threat to our freedom in this country – not so much material slavery (though there is still great poverty in our country), but spiritual poverty and spiritual slavery. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free… I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave of sin…So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free." (John 8:31-32, 34. 36)
Trust in God and united we will pray for the Nations. America is young and there are young leaders of our nations live among us. When President Thomas Jefferson died, Abe Lincoln was a teenager, 17 years old; when Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8 years old; and when Woodrow Wilson died, Ronald Reagan was 12 years old. America is very, very young. And yet, we have been very blessed.

Let us stand as we celebrate the 231st Birthday of the Nations lets make the pledge: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." --official version since 1954
In God we trust

Feast of St. Peter and St Paul

Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul

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

June 22 Thomas More and John Fisher

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

11th sunday Father's Day

Happy Fathers Day

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

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

Most Holy Trinity Sunday Homily

Most Holy Trinity

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

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