22nd sunday:Follow Jesus with your cross
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
In Aug 28, 2008 CNA News there was a story about 25 year-old African young girl named Olivia, who despite not being baptized at the time and not having any legs, crawled 2.5 miles every Sunday to attend Mass. The sisters who gave her accommodation said that although “the sand from the road burned the palms of her hands during the hottest times of the year,” the young woman crawled to Mass, “giving witness of perseverance and heroic faith.”
Jesus said to his disciples “whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”
So many of us here are already carrying crosses. You do not have to go looking for them. They find us.
The point is that, if you want to be a follower of Jesus, you have to be able to make a total commitment. No excuses! In fact, there is much common sense in what Jesus is saying. For example, if you embark on a medical or legal career you have to study hard, give up many nights on the town, and follow your professor’s instructions. There are no free rides. No crosses, No growth. No pain, no gain.
In fact it is not one cross that we have to take up, but three. The first is the cross of inconvenience. There is no point in praying for change in the world without putting ourselves out to do something to help make that change. In other words, I must inconvenience myself to make that change. Say, for example, there is no point in praying that your mother will get well if you don’t drive her to the doctor to get some care..... The second is the cross of witness. To carry this cross, we must not be afraid to stand up for what we believe in and be counted. A good example of this witnessing is those people who are involved in social action and justice campaigns. And finally there is the cross of martyrdom. And this comes in two forms, wet and dry. Wet is when blood is spilled, like that of Oscar Romero. And dry is when we are wounded in the spirit and that can happen in so many different ways and on a daily basis.
It seems altogether fitting that one of the Christian martyrs of our time, Archbishop Oscar Romero, received a bullet in the heart just as he was about to pronounce the words of the Mass from behind the altar of the Chapel of the Divine Providence in San Salvador: "This is my body given for you."
The first martyrs of the Christian church in Uganda were young pages at the court of the king. When they were about to be burned alive for their faith, each was asked to name the charge against him. Each said, "For following Christ." They understood what Jesus meant when he said, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Edith Stein was a German Jew who was converted to Christianity and became a Carmelite nun. When World War II came, she was hunted down by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp -- Auschwitz -- where, until she was gassed, she busied herself with comforting and consoling the other internees.
Last week the burning alive of a woman in an orphanage and attacks on many churches in Orissa in India are most shocking. At present 14 people are dead in the state of Orissa with two more seriously injured? At least 41 churches (Catholic and Protestant) were destroyed; hundreds of homes were damaged; four convents, five hostels and youth residences, six Catholic volunteer institutes were devastated; plus hundreds of cars and other personal objects were set on fire during raids carried out by Hindu fundamentalists.
This month August 16, 2008 Fr. Thomas Pandippally, a member of the CMI Congregation was brutally murdered while he was returning home on his motorbike after celebrating the Eucharist in Andhra Pradesh. Even though he was killed on Saturday night, his body was found only the following day on the road. On his body there were 18 stab wounds. He sustained many more wounds on his face and hands during the struggle with his murderers which probably went on for about an hour. According to the postmortem report, his head was hit with sticks and boulders. One eye was pierced with a knife. Fr. Thomas literally shed his blood because of his commitment and dedication to the Gospel of Jesus.
Graham Stuart Stains was an Australian missionary who was burnt to death along with his 9 and 7 years sons while sleeping in his station wagon in Orissa, in India in January 1999. Graham Staines had been working in Orissa among the tribal poor and especially with leprosy patients since 1965.
On 25 February 1995 when I was studying theology in North India, Sr Rany Maria one of the Franciscan sisters was murdered in the bus on her way to see her parents. The murderers pulled her by her hair from the bus and stabbed her 52 times and she was in the pool of blood. Forty travelers and the bus driver left the place for their safety. I was there for the rally and the funeral. Her body was put to eternal rest in special tomb prepared in front of the parish church at Udayanagar. But that time I didn’t know that she is going to be a martyr. She is now called a servant of God. She has sacrificed her life to do God’s will. With the courage of a prophet she faced the challenges in her work to uplift the poor and the downtrodden.
The follower of Christ must be a person for others, just as the Master was. If you wish to be my followers deny yourselves and take up your cross and follow me. He will give the reward. St Paul says in I Cor. 1:18 “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

21 st sunday : The Church and Our Role in the Church
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
John XXIII was pope during the chaotic and restless (turbulent) 1960s when it seemed that everything was falling apart. The priesthood was in crisis, religious life was in crisis, marriage was in crisis, faith was in crisis, and the church was in crisis. The pope worked long and hard hours trying to address these problems. One evening, after an exhausting day in the office, he went to his private chapel to do his daily Holy Hour before going to bed but he was too exhausted and too stressed out to focus or pray. After a few minutes of pointless effort, he got up and said, “Lord, the church belongs to you. I am going to bed.” Difficulties might have driven the Pope to acknowledge that the church belongs to Christ. But Jesus Said in Today’s Gospel: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
This passage is crucial for a proper understanding of what the church is, and our role in the church. For this is the most explicit statement that Jesus makes in the Gospels about the church. There are two main points in this sentence.
Firstly, it tells us that Jesus is the owner of the church. Neither Peter nor the disciples owns the church. Pastors and church leaders who think and act as if they own the church are like farm workers who go about posing as if the farm belongs to them. All God’s people have been called together as co-workers in Christ's vineyard, though some work as foremen overseeing others. But we do not own the church. We belong to the church. The owner of the church is Christ.
Secondly, Jesus is the one who builds his church. He is the master builder who has the building plan in his hands. Human co-operators are like masons and carpenters employed by the master builder to help him with the building. Our role is to listen and follow his instructions, doing our own small part in the grand design of the master. HE is in Control.
If Jesus is the owner and builder of the church, where then do we come in? We come in precisely where Peter comes in. Together with Peter we are the building blocks of the church. Peter is the foundation rock and we are the pieces of stones with which the church is built: Our role is to allow God to use us.
We must not forget that no matter how small a piece of stone we may be, the master builder could still use it to do something beautiful.
A famous stained-glass artist was commissioned to make a huge portrait for the window of the cathedral in Chartres, France. First he laid all of the pieces he was going to use out on the floor of the cathedral. Among these awesome pieces of glass was a small, clear piece about as big as a fingernail. As the stained-glass portrait was assembled, that little piece remained on the floor. Only the big colorful pieces were used. On the day of the window’s completion the entire city gathered to witness the unveiling of the portrait. The artist pulled away the cover cloth and the crowd gasped at the beauty of the colorful window glowing in the sunlight. After a few seconds the crowd grew silent. They sensed that something was missing, that the portrait was unfinished. The great artist then walked over to where the little clear piece of glass lay, picked it up, and placed it in the portrait, right in the centre of Jesus’ eye. As the sun hit that little piece, it gave off a dazzling sparkle. The work of art is now complete. Without the small piece the work was incomplete. In the grand design of building the church of God, each one of us could consider ourselves to be that small piece of glass – so small and yet so indispensable.
Dear brothers and sisters, the two questions that Jesus poses to His disciples today - “Who do people say I am?” and “Who do you say I am?” are questions that every disciples has to face at some time in their lives. Throughout our lives, we hear different things about Jesus. Some of them will help to develop our understanding about Jesus - others will challenge us - and others may confuse us.
Like Peter today, we will hear all sorts of things about Jesus - but, eventually, we will have to look at them all and decide what we believe about Jesus. Who is this real Jesus for ME? Don’t be stubborn to our foolish knowledge but ask for the wisdom to know the Truth. We may think that we are intelligent people but our decisions may end up in foolishness.
Once a spider built a beautiful web in an old barn. She kept it clean and shiny so that flies would buzz a bit nearer. The minute she got a visitor she would clean up on it so the other flies would not get suspicious.
Then one day a fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean spider web. The spider called out, "Come in and sit." But the fly said, "No, ma’am. I don’t see other flies in your house, and I am not going in alone!"
But presently the fly saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper. It was delighted! It was not afraid if lots of flies were doing the same. So the fly came in for a landing.
Just before it landed, a bee zoomed by, saying, "Don’t land there, that’s flypaper!" But the fly shouted back, "Don’t be silly, those flies are dancing. There’s a big crowd there. That many flies can’t be wrong." Well, you know what happened, the fly got stuck and died.
Isn’t it strange, my dear brothers and sisters, how some of us want to be with the crowd so badly denying the church and the Christ forgetting that Jesus is the builder and the master of the church and we are the bricks with which Jesus builds His church!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

20th sunday Perseverance in prayer
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
The Canaanite woman in our Gospel today reminds us of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine who lived in Tagaste in North Africa which is called Algeria today. Augustine her son as a teenager influenced by the loose living of his companions. He didn’t have faith. His mother shed tears for 20 years for her son and he received the baptism. Five days later Monica caught a fever and went into a coma and died after nine days. Augustine went on to become a priest at the age of 36 and a bishop at the age of 41 and was Bishop of Hippo in North Africa for 35 years. And all of this due to the persistent prayer of his mother St Monica.
If you read today’s Gospel text closely you will see that the woman was refused three times by Jesus before he granted her request. The first time Jesus didn’t answer her. The second refusal was when Jesus refused his disciples’ request on her behalf. The third refusal was when Jesus said the children’s food shouldn’t be thrown to the dogs. By that Jesus meant it was not correct to give her who was not a Jew what was meant for the Jews. ‘Dogs’ was a frequent description of Gentiles (non-Jews) at the time of Jesus. Finally, the fourth time, her plea was answered. Jesus said, “Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.” And from that moment her daughter was well again. Like Monica who had received many refusals during almost twenty years of praying for Augustine’s conversion, the Canaanite woman persisted in prayer before God. And her patient persistent prayer was answered.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, Prayer is our active dependence on God, our turning to Him, acknowledging that we need him. When we pray we are reminded of who God is, of what He has done, of what He will do, of what He has promised.
Just as the repeated blows of a hammer eventually have an effect, in the same way patience and persistence in prayer produces results.
In other words, time is involved in the making of everything of worth. And this is where patience links hands with perseverance.
We must wait on the Lord. Proverb 20:22 says “Wait on the Lord and He shall save you”
Perseverance and patience are not easy virtues, especially for us here in New York. In heavy traffic, we run the risk of road rage; we want our food faster and faster, never mind better and better; even weight loss must be quick, or we give up. Such experiences and attitudes don’t help us when we turn to prayer. We want an answer, an emotional lift, some outcome right now, or prayer is obviously not working.
There is a story about Robert Bruce; King of Scotland. He was hiding in a hut in the forest. His enemies were seeking him far and wide.
Six times he had met them in battle, and six times he had failed. Hope and courage were gone.
Bruce had given up all as lost. He was about to run away from Scotland, and to leave the country in the hands of his enemies.
Full of sorrow, he lay stretched out on a pile of straw in the poor woodchopper's hut. While he laid thinking, he noticed a spider spinning her web.
The spider was trying to spin a thread from one beam of the cottage to another. It was a long way between the beams, and Bruce saw how hard a thing it was for her to do.
"She can never do it," thought the king.
The little spider tried it once and failed. She tried it twice and failed. The king counted each time. At length she had tried it six times and had failed each time.
"She is like me," thought the king. "I have tried six battles and failed. She has tried six times to reach the beam and failed."
The spider tried the seventh time, letting herself down upon her slender thread. She swung out bravely.
"Look! look!" shouted the king. "She has reached it. The thread hangs between the two beams. If the spider can do it, I can do it."
Bruce got up from the straw with new strength and sent his men from village to village, calling the people to arms.
The brave soldiers answered his call and came trooping in.
At length his army was ready to fight, and when the king led them in a great battle against the enemy, this time, like the spider, Bruce won.
Yes dear brothers and sisters remember the English word Push when you pray: P.U.S.H: Persevere Until Something Happens. Never give up. Most of the time we give up just one moment before our success. When we wait long time for a Bus; just at the time we jump into the taxi there will be a Bus right behind us. When our hopes are dashed let us turn to Jesus. He is the answer to all our hopes and dreams. He will not let us down. When Winston Churchill was asked to give the commencement address at Oxford University. His now famous speech consisted of only three words: “Never give up!”
I believe this poem is by St Jude.
“When things go wrong as they sometimes will,When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,When the funds are low and the debts are highAnd you want to smile, but you have to sigh,When care is pressing you down a bit,Rest if you must, but don't you quit.Life is strange with its twists and turnsAs everyone of us sometimes learnsAnd many a failure comes aboutWhen he might have won had he stuck it out;Don't give up though the pace seems slow -You may succeed with another blow.Success is failure turned inside out -The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,And you never can tell just how close you are,It may be near when it seems so far;So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.”
Yes dear brothers and sisters Pray Until Something Happens: Push and keep waiting on God.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

19th sunday :Fix your eyes on Jesus and spend time alone with Jesus

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
A famous Indian surgeon told his students that a surgeon needed two gifts: freedom from nausea and the power of observation.
He then dipped a finger into some nauseating fluid and licked it, requesting each of the students to do the same. They steeled themselves to it and managed it without flinching.
With a smile, the surgeon then said, “Gentlemen, I congratulate you on having passed the first test. But not, unfortunately, the second, for not one of you noticed that the finger I licked was not the one I dipped into the fluid.”
Today from our Gospel reading we could observe two main facts: Importance of spending time with God and fixing our eyes always on Jesus.
“After dismissing the crowd Jesus went up to the Mountain by himself to pray.” Mt.14:22.Time alone with God really isn't easy in our world, everything around about us says "be busy, do something, do something, do something again."
In Dr. Stephen Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, 1990
He tells the story of Arthur Gordon, who realized that his energy wasn't in his work anymore. There was a malaise somehow in his life and he went to see his physician to see if there was something physically wrong. And that's a good move if you feel that in your lives: to check things out to see if there's something physically wrong. His physician did all the tests and there was nothing physically wrong, but he said to Arthur Gordon, "I need you to respond to something for a day. Can you give me tomorrow?" And Arthur Gordon said, "Yes, I can give you tomorrow." He said, "I'm going to give you four prescriptions. Go to the beach. You are to open them at three hour intervals." And Arthur Gordon did this.
He got there the following morning and at nine o'clock he opened the first prescription. It said, "Listen carefully." He had three hours to listen carefully. He didn't know what to do with the time, but as he listened he began to hear things he had missed.
And he opened the second prescription and it said "reach back," reach back to your memories. Memories that were happy, memories to lift him up and memories that brought him down, that dragged him down, that held him back.
The third prescription was to, "Examine your motives." He realized that he had not been following the motives that he wanted to follow in life.
In the evening and the last prescription was opened. It said, "Write your worries in the sand."
As we do those things, as we listen carefully, as we reach back, as we examine our motives, as we write our worries, not just in the sand but in the hands of God to take and carry them off from us, it's remarkable what happens to our lives.
Time alone. Being still before God. Time listening carefully to God, to God's word, to the creation around about us. Time alone to reach back. Time to examine our motives, our purpose, our reason for doing what we do. Time to write our worries in the palms of God's hands to bear away from us and for us.
My dear brothers and sisters, If you want to grow, this is a habit that should be a part of our lives. Follow the path of Jesus to the mountain.
The second part of the gospel is a lesson for all disciples who are tempted to take their eyes off Jesus and to take more notice of the threatening circumstances around them. Whatever Jesus commands us to do he gives us the power to do it. And the ordinary man, Peter, begins to walk on the seas, coming to Jesus. “But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and began to sink” (verse 30) While Peter kept his eyes fixed upon Jesus, and upon his word and power, he walked upon the water well enough; but when he took notice of the danger he was in, and focused on the waves, then he became afraid and began to sink. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Now many of us have a temptation to blame peter for his little faith. But many of us would never do anything like what Peter did. Instead, we would prefer to stay in our comfort zones and never risk.
A Californian Presbyterian pastor John Ortberg wrote a book in 2001 “If You Want to Walk on Water You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat” Ortberg proposes that Peter was not a failure, but a success. And if Peter was a failure, there were eleven even worse failures in the boat who never even attempted to step out and trust Jesus.
But only Peter knew two other things as well. Only Peter knew the glory of walking on the water. He alone knew what it was to attempt to do what he was not capable of doing on his own, then feeling the euphoria of being empowered by God to actually do it.
And Only Peter knew the glory of being lifted up by Jesus in a moment of desperate need.
The worst failure is not to sink in the waves. The worst failure is to never get out of the boat. The boat can serve as a metaphor for comfort.
Observing St Peter we realize Peter doesn't begin to sink until he starts looking around at the wind and the waves. All of a sudden, the boat seemed awfully small and far away. There was nothing but black, churning water all around him. The waves were lapping at his feet, water was stinging his eyes. And then, just like that, the water under his feet let go.Taking our eyes off Jesus, and focusing on the difficult circumstances will cause us to get under our problems. But when we cry out to Jesus, he catches us by the hand and raises us above the seemingly impossible surroundings.
We are a lot like Peter, my dear brothers and sisters; there are times when we grow alarmed at the high winds and the high waves of being a Christian in today’s world. And, like Peter, for a brief moment we take our eyes off Jesus. And that is our fatal mistake. We begin to sink. When trouble is all around - keep your eyes on Jesus. He will never let you sink.
In the letter to the Hebrews. 13:6 we read “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

17th sunday Mission appeal and Wisdom of God
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
I am Fr Sunny John, a Carmelite priest from India. I am coming from a country where there are more than 1.1billion people and there are 23 official languages. India is a federal republic of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories.You May not fully understand me, you know why, because English is not my language. But we all know the Language of God the language of Love. So you will understand me.
Once there was a famous competition in the School Curriculum. The sports teacher was watching a boy who was very intense in his prayers before the Statue of blessed Mother. The race was over and the result came out. This boy failed. The teacher was so upset and came to this very smart and loving child and told him: “son, I am so sorry that you failed even after you prayed a lot.” he replied “teacher, who told you that I was praying for the prize; I was not praying for the prize but I was praying for the strength not to cry when I fail.”
God gave Solomon a blank cheque "ask what you would like me to give you". (1 Kgs 3:5) What a question, yet what an answer that came out of Solomon's mouth. God I want to think like you. I desire to look at life in the way that you look at life because only in this way I can reach my full potential as a human person. This is true wisdom, not the wisdom that emanates from a human brain, but a wisdom that comes from the heart of God. True wisdom for all of us who believe in Jesus Christ is to be able to see life from God's point of view. This is the reason why Solomon prayed in this manner, "Give your servant a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil".
You know why I am here today. I found the Treasure. I do not have enough Money to buy the Land, where the treasure is, so I am asking your help.
In RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S GITANJALI "Song Offerings" He writes “Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!

He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.
He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil! Yes dear brothers and sisters, God is out there with the people who are suffering. We all are called to be missionaries going out to the whole world and spreading the good news. We can never help anyone in this world when we are fully equipped or wealthy. There are millions of people who have nothing to eat a day. Whatever you wanted to do for the people in the third world countries you need financial help, if you want to teach them you have to provide food clothing and transportation.
God is not asking us to be a mother Theresa but he is giving you and me a chance to do what we can do to help at least one family or a person to lead a life worthy of human being.
There is nothing big or nothing small in giving, even a small sacrifice you make today for the Missions in the world will prayerfully be remembered by someone who is in utter need of your help.
One evening a mother and a child were coming back home after a long evening walk and on the way they got into a restaurant and picked up their dinner package. While they were walking this little child saw a poor man in the nearby waste barrel searching for his daily food. This child remembered the catechism class where she learned about the loving God. She hold tightly on her mothers’ arm and asked Mammy, mammy let me ask you a question. Is God alive, yes, is our God is a good and loving God? Yes. Mammy my teacher told me today Our God is a good and loving God and wherever you are in need you pray to God and God will send angels to help you. Is it True Mom? Yes indeed. If that is right why didn’t God send and angel to help this poor man to find a meal a Day?
Wow that is a real aching question. Mammy just paused a moment. And said “honey, who told you that God did not send an angel today. He did send you. Take our dinner packet and go and give it to that poor man and be an Angel of God Today.
Yes dear brothers and sisters. By helping the Mission you are becoming an angel of God for someone.
I thank most sincerely Bishop Anthony m Pilla, Fr Stephen Vellenga the director of the propagation of faith and your loving and caring Pastor George Vrabel and the Assistant pastor ………………and all the staff and parishioners of St Mary’s Church for your love and support. I assure my prayers ask the Mother Mary to help you in all your needs and I humbly ask your prayers for the missions.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

16th Sunday and Mission in Trumbull,CT
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
I am Fr Sunny John, a Carmelite priest from India. I am coming from a country where there are more than 1.1billion people and there are 23 official languages. India is a federal republic of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories.You May not fully understand me, you know why, because English is not my language. But we all know the Language of God the language of Love. So you will understand me.
In today’s gospel he takes up a couple of the things which could worry us. And what wonderful encouragement he gives.
Consider the first parable, the parable of the darnel. How often people wish they had greater faith, greater hope and greater charity. In short, that they were much better Christians, much better people of the Kingdom.
He says, “Leave it to me. Just keep me central to your sense of self and others. Theirs and your dignity, worth and destiny are there because I love you. You are my people. I’ll provide for all that. I’ll get you all cleaned out when the harvest time comes”.
And this is where things get interesting. It’s this word darnel. In English we miss the point if we translate the Greek word as weeds. It’s not just any weed. Darnel looks very much like wheat. In the early stages you can’t tell the difference. Only when it is mature can you tell the difference easily. Genetically it is related to wheat but it’s poisonous.
Don’t worry; the kingdom is growing in each of you and all of you. The kingdom starts as a little seed or a small piece of yeast. So it is with you; it will reach out mightily, but quietly and unseen. It is God’s work. You just be there for me.
A harried businessman, rushing from home to catch a flight to a distant city in order to close an important deal, narrates the adventurous ride and the valuable lesson he learned from a wise cabbie:“One day I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. The taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches. The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. The taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. To my astonishment the cabbie was genuinely friendly! So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? That guy almost demolished your taxi and sent us to the hospital!' This is when the taxi driver taught me what I now call 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.' He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage: frustration, anger and disappointment mounting inside of them. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.’”
Because God loved everyone, it is our duty to love our brothers and sisters who are in need. St James 2:15 we heard that “if a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “ go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?’
As John Lennon said: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
We are called to be missionaries going out to the whole world and spreading the good news. We can never help anyone in this world when we are fully equipped or wealthy. God is asking to show our love towards others. By the fact we are helping the people who help the people we are becoming part of that universal mission of Christ. There are millions of people who have nothing to eat a day. Whatever you wanted to do for the people in the third world countries you need financial help, if you want to teach them you have to provide food clothing and transportation.
God is not asking us to be a mother Theresa but he is giving you and me a chance to do what we can do to help at least one family or a person to lead a life worthy of human being.
There is nothing big or nothing small in giving, even a small sacrifice you make today for the Missions in the world will prayerfully be remembered by someone who is in utter need of your help.
One evening a mother and a child were coming back home after a long evening walk and on the way they got into a restaurant and picked up their dinner package. While they were walking this little child saw a poor man in the nearby waste barrel searching for his daily food. This child remembered the catechism class where she learned about the loving God. She hold tightly on her mothers’ arm and asked Mammy, mammy let me ask you a question. Is God alive, yes, is our God is a good and loving God? Yes. Mammy my teacher told me today Our God is a good and loving God and wherever you are in need you pray to God and God will send angels to help you. Is it True Mom? Yes indeed. If that is right why didn’t God send and angel to help this poor man to find a meal a Day?
Wow that is a real aching question. Mammy just paused a moment. And said “honey, who told you that God did not send an angel today. He did send you. Take our dinner packet and go and give it to that poor man and be an Angel of God Today. Yes dear brothers and sisters. By helping the Mission you are becoming an angel of God for someone. I thank most sincerely Bishop William E. Lori, Fredrick L Saviano the director of the propagation of faith and your loving and caring Pastor Fr Bernard M. Dolan and all parishioners of Christ the King Parish for your love and support. I assure my prayers and I humbly ask yours for the missions.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

All souls Day

All souls Day
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
On this day we remember all of those who have died and have not been saints. That is most like the great majority of those who have died. We pray for them because we know that prayer for the dead is important. We do not know how those who have died are purified to be in the presence of the living God, but we recognize that such purification is truly necessary. It could happen in the very act of dying or it could happen in some other way. We Christians have always believed that this purification is necessary to come into the presence of God. So we can offer good works for those who have died, such as almsgiving, indulgences and works of penance. In 2 Maccabees Chapter 12: 39-46 when Judas Maccabees found his men slain and he was about to bury their bodies, they found pagan amulets under their tunics, which is a sin against the great Commandment. You shall have no strange gods before me.
Instead of despair and in great sacrifice to themselves, Judas and his men took up a collection of two-thousand silver drachmas and sent it to the Temple in Jerusalem so sacrifices would be offered in the temple on behalf of these men who had fallen in battle and had not lived as they should have; there were issues that had to be tied up. They did so for if they could do anything in reparation, this act of sacrifice would be accepted by God to pay their debt.
The Book of Wisdom (3:1-9) has often brought comfort to those who mourn. It teaches us that always we are in God’s hands, both during our life and at the time of our death. We can rejoice in this teaching: Those who trust in him shall understand truth. Always our faith helps us understand the truth about life and the truth about God. It is trusting in the Lord that helps us believe that those who have died in this life have not died forever, but are now with God in peace. Upon death, it is believed that souls have not yet been cleansed of sin. Praying for souls of loved ones helps to remove the stain of sin, and allow the souls to enter the pearly gates of heaven. Through prayer and good works, living members of the church may help their departed friends and family.
There is always a dispute in believing in Purgatory. Purgatory doesn't contradict the Bible and that it makes a lot of sense: if nothing unclean can enter heaven and if the Holy Spirit hasn't finished his work of making us like Christ when we die, then before we can face God in heaven, he has to clean off any remaining attachment to sin that we might still have - and that's Purgatory.
It is interesting that King Henry VIII of England granted himself to be the Supreme head of the Church in England and the first thing he did was do away with Purgatory. If I got on the observation desk of the empire state today and looked south I couldn’t see St Patrick’s Cathedral and although it wasn’t in the news today, I am sure Cathedral is still there. Just because I can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Well King Henry VIII announced, “Purgatory? No more Purgatory.” It is interesting to note that when Henry VIII lay dying, he called for a Roman Catholic priest so that he might go to Confession and not one of those who had taken an oath of fidelity to King Henry VIII.
We could say that he who intervenes on behalf of the dearly departed is helping himself because, in the presence of God they will be eager to help those who intervened and helped them be released from purgatory. The great pain in Purgatory perhaps is the pain of knowing you are going to Heaven but you aren’t there yet. The longing to see God must be a great pain for the soul, but we don’t know for sure.
We should pray for the souls that everyone has forgotten. They have a greater interest rate because no one has remembered them. Think of all the people who lived around the Pacific Rim on December 26th last year when the Tsunami hit; it just reached up to shore and dragged whole families out to the ocean and they died right there. So they have no families to pray for them, they have no one alive to pray for them. Also perhaps, many of them were pagan so no one who could pray for them that were left alive would pray for them. But we can reach right in and pray for them; we can pray for the most forgotten souls in Purgatory. We have to see that we have everything at our disposal and everyday great sacrifices come our way. Every day we have life so we have an opportunity to do something.
“The last thing you should do before you go to sleep at night is say a prayer for the Poor Souls in purgatory because by morning you may be in their company.”
And we pray, as the church has ever prayed: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.Amen.And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace… Amen.

15th Sunday

The parable of the Sower

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
A harried businessman, rushing from home to catch a flight to a distant city in order to close an important deal, narrates the adventurous ride and the valuable lesson he learned from a wise cabbie:“One day I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. The taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches. The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. The taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. To my astonishment the cabbie was genuinely friendly! So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? That guy almost demolished your taxi and sent us to the hospital!' This is when the taxi driver taught me what I now call 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.' He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage: frustration, anger and disappointment mounting inside of them. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.’”
My dear brothers and sisters, addressing the disciples of his day and of our own, Jesus relates the parable of the sower and the seed, reminding us that when the Word of God takes deep root in our lives, the whole world can be enriched.
We often assume that people will accept the Good News if only they could understand, but the reverse is also true that people cannot really understand God’s word until they first accept God in their lives.
The seeds fall on different types of soil, the pathway soil, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the good soil. Each of these types of soil is said to represent a certain type of heart with which hearers receive the word of God. The question each of us must ask ourselves today is, “What type of soil for the word of God do I represent? Am I like the pathway where the seed cannot even sprout, or like the rocky ground where the seed sprouts but has no roots, or like thorny ground where the word of God is choked to death by worldly cares, or like the good soil that bears much fruit?
To respond to this parable adequately, we must view it from different angles.
The first is to look at the story as if we are the seed.
On the other hand, we can look at the parable as if we were the farmer. Vatican II and all the Popes since have stated repeatedly that each of us is called to be an evangelizer, to tell others that Jesus Christ changes lives eternally and that the place to encounter him most fully is within the Catholic Church. To get the few that bear fruit, lots of seed must be sown by lots of people. So regardless of whether or not we think we have green thumbs, we farmers are being commanded through this parable to get the seed out there, sowing it everywhere we go, undeterred by the birds, the weeds, and the scorching sun.
So As seed, our job is to get busy growing. As farmers, our job is to get busy sowing.
The seeds that are sown bear different results, resulting in four different destinies. But, according to Jesus, the reason is not because the seed lacks power. No. It is due to the condition of the soil.
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. (This is not my story though) Eventually the barber said: 'I don't believe that God exists.’ 'Why do you say that?' asked the customer. 'Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine loving a God who would allow all of these things.' The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. Just before he leaves the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept. The customer said to the barber: 'You know what? Barbers do not exist.' 'How can you say that?' asked the surprised barber. 'I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!' ‘The customer said. 'Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.' Barber was angry he said 'Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me.' 'Exactly!'- affirmed the customer. 'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world.'
The seeds that fell on the path represent those who hear the word of the Kingdom of God but do not understand it. The Evil One comes and takes away what has been sown in their hearts (cf. Mt 13:19). The Evil One often uses this tactic and he tries to prevent the seed from germinating in people's hearts. This is the first comparison. The second is the seed fallen on rocky ground. This ground represents the people who hear the word and welcome it immediately with joy, but they do not have roots in them and are inconstant. When tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they fall away immediately (cf. Mt 13:20-21). The third case is the seed fallen among thorns. The two first characters were bad: the wayside was not the proper place, the rock was not a congenial situation for the growth of any plant; but this is good soil, for it grows thorns. The seed that falls among thorns can be likened to those who live in a perpetual state of distraction. Their eternal salvation, unfortunately, is not their primary preoccupation.
Finally, the seed fallen on fertile ground represents those who hear the word and understand it, and the word bears fruit in them (cf. Mt 13:23).
What is this fruit anyhow? In Gal 5:22 Paul says the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. Yes dear brothers and sisters 'Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you're not willing to move your feet.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

14th Sunday Year A

Take my yoke
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
As individuals, we all carry heavy burdens of sin, anxieties about the future, and weariness in the search for God, or any number of other problems we face day-to-day. Our burden could be the death of a loved one, a broken relationship, an addiction, an illness, problems at home or problems at work; for each of us, it is something different. Jesus said in Today’s Gospel ‘Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, Take my Yoke upon you and learn from me.”
A “yoke” is the wooden collar that fit around the neck of the oxen and connected them to the plough.
In Jesus’ time, carpenters handcrafted every yoke to fit the ox perfectly. It should fit well. The oxen could plough all day and pull up to five times their weight.
But if the yoke did not fit well, it would rub and chafe and cut into the flesh of the oxen until every step was sheer torture. You can see why a carpenter would be known by the quality of his yokes.
It was also common practice to have oxen in a double yoke. In other words, there were usually two oxen joined together by the yoke and together pulling the plough.
They would train a younger, weaker ox by pairing it with a stronger, more mature animal.
As a result, the stronger one ended up bearing the heavier portion of the load and would lead the younger less experience ox on.Keeping this image of a double yoke in mind, we can begin to unwrap precisely what Jesus means when he says “My yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
He is saying that when we are bearing the burdens of human life, we need to remember that (1) The yoke was made to fit me, (2) That we are in a double yoke, and (3) That we are not pulling the load alone.Far from it, Jesus himself is right there next to us, pulling the load with us. And, like the stronger and more mature ox, he is even bearing the heavier portion. Know that we are not pulling the yoke alone and by our power but together with Christ and by the strength that comes from him. Remember that Jesus is not just a teacher who gives you homework but also a friend who helps you do it. Jesus shows us how to do this by showing us how he did it.
To accept the double yoke that Jesus offers us, and to allow him to bear the burden with us, we need to do two things.First, we need to admit that alone we cannot handle the burdens in our life, so we have to admit our need of the Lord and his help. Somehow, that transformation must happen in the act of surrender, in the "giving over" of our own daily labors, burdens and crosses to the Lord. Admitting to ourselves that we cannot carry them on our own, allowing Jesus to shoulder them with us; letting go of control—in that simple, childlike surrender, we discover the rest Jesus promises.
Second, we need to turn to the Lord in prayer. We need to entrust ourselves to his power and strength.
If we do not pray, we are most likely trying to pull the load alone. Trying to pull it alone would surely overwhelm the less experienced ox and it will surely overwhelm us.
Christ doesn’t do things for you; He does things with you.
Much of the burden of our lives is that so often we don't seem to be going anywhere. We must do as Abraham did, leaving behind all the things which prevent us from moving and submitting our whole lives to him - following him into a land that he will show us. At the moment we decide to come to Jesus we see exactly how far we are from him. Jesus says: Come to ME …
Then Jesus says: SHOULDER my yoke ….
Not only must we carry only the burden Jesus asks us to carry, we must learn from him how to carry it. A burden half-heartedly carried is very difficult to bear. How often do we not just push it along or drag it behind us? The "yoke" of Christ will become gentle and light if accepted out of love and borne with faithful love.
Many of you will know “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother” a song released by the Hollies in 1969. You know the story behind the song. It is actually the motto of Boystown, the orphanage for boys set up in America by Father Edward Joseph Flanagan in 1917 and made famous by Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney in the 1938 movie by the same name “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother”. In 1921, there was a young boy at Boys Town who had difficulty walking due to leg braces. Other boys would take turns giving him a ride on their backs.
One hopes that the words in the song will be their experience and they will declare with joy from the deepest part of their being:
It's a long, long roadFrom which there is no returnWhile we're on the way to thereWhy not share.And the loadDoesn't weigh me down at allHe ain't heavy, he's my brother.
St. Paul teaches us in Gal. 6:2 “Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

13th Sunday STS. Peter and Paul

ST PETER AND PAUL
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Once a missionary was recruiting candidates for the mission fields. He asked them why they wanted to go to Mission. Some said people are so poor, so exploited we will go and help them. Many are illiterate we will go and teach them. We will fight for justice and peace. But the leader said “All of these motives, however good, will fail you in times of testing, trials, tribulations, and possible death. There is but one motive that will sustain you in trial and testing; namely, the love of Christ.”
Yes dear brothers and sisters, today we are celebrating the great feasts of two giant Spiritual leaders who lived and died for the Love of Christ.
St. Peter is mentioned 182 times in the New Testament
It is interesting to note the personalities of both Peter and Paul. Peter was impetuous, telling Jesus that he would die with him if necessary but in fact he denied he knew him. We also remember Peter’s objection to Jesus’ prediction that he would suffer and die in Jerusalem and Jesus said ‘Get behind me Satan because the way you think is man’s way and not God’s way’ (Matt 16:23). Yet what made Peter a suitable candidate for Jesus’ call was his love, so three times Jesus asked him if he loved him and asked him to look after the flock.
Paul was a controversial character in his own way. He had a fiery personality. In his early life he channeled that fire towards persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem, even witnessing the death of Stephen, the first martyr for Jesus. After conversion Paul spent 10 years back in Tarsus before he began his preaching. It was a time for him to cool down and learn what the death and resurrection of Jesus meant for us all. Paul was a highly educated Pharisee and also he had a very strong personality which he needed to help the Jews to accept that Jesus was the Savior of all peoples, and that because of Jesus there is no difference between Jew and non-Jew.
Tradition holds that each was murdered by the Emperor Nero, around the year 64. Peter was crucified in a public circus or amphitheatre, hung on a cross upside down in humility that he might not seem to imitate the crucifixion of Christ. Paul was beheaded on the outskirts of the city.
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 also 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 as he did with Peter and Paul.
About Peter; Jesus could see Peter’s heart and knew he was the man for the job. Why? Because Peter was different to Judas. Peter grew through his mistake whereas Judas allowed his mistake to conquer him. Three times Peter had denied Jesus by a charcoal fire on Holy Thursday evening but now three times by a different charcoal fire on Easter day Jesus asks Peter to look after the sheep. Jesus forgave Peter and had confidence in him to make him Pope.
Despite our sinfulness Jesus forgives us and has confidence in us. In the second letter to Timothy we read, “We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful, for he cannot deny his own self” (2 Tim 2:13).
The most extraordinary thing about Paul’s conversion is in Phil 3:12, “I was apprehended by Christ Jesus.”{I have been taken possession of By Christ} the impression is that he was grabbed by Jesus and had no choice. Jesus arrested him with his overwhelming power.
These two great sources of our Christian faith teach us today to have strong faith which leads to Humility.
St Paul when he started his ministry cried out to the Christians “I am one among the apostles who witnessed to the Risen Christ. 1 Corinthians 9:2 Then he said in 1 Corinthians 15:9 “I am the least of the apostles, that am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God”. He was growing in Faith which leads to humility to accept that everything is from God. He had grown up to say I Tim. 1:15. “I am the first among all sinners,”
In First 1 Peter 5:6-11 Peter teaches us to Stand Firm in the Faith.
1) In humility
2) In prayer
3) In vigilance
4) In reliance on God
Peter encourages us, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”
A humble attitude recognizes who we are. We are weak, miserable sinners. We have nothing to boast about before God.
Even the problems that come into our lives, Peter reminds us God promises that he will “lift us up in due time.” He will deliver us from sin and suffering.
Today dear brothers and sisters we ask the intercession of these two saints to help us to cloth ourselves in Humility to have a strong faith in Jesus Christ.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

12th Sunday and Mission Appeal
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
I am Fr Sunny John, a Carmelite priest from India. I am coming from a country where there are more than 1.1billion people and there are 23 official languages. (India is a federal republic of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories.) You May not fully understand me, you know why, because English is not my language.
Someone once said that every Christian occupies some kind of pulpit and preaches some kind of sermon every day. St. Francis of Assisi used to instruct his newly ordained friars: “Go out and preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.”
Today’s gospel is a continuation of the instructions that Jesus gave to the twelve apostles as he sent them out to go and proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The values of the Kingdom are different from the values of the world, so much so that people tend to reject the message and turn against the messengers. Tradition has it that almost all the apostles died the violent death of martyrdom. A martyr is one who gives his life for Christ and his Church. Some of them ended up being crucified on the cross, like Peter and Andrew; beheaded, like James and Paul; flayed alive, like Bartholomew; or thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, like John. It was natural, therefore, for the apostles to fear as Jesus sends them out to evangelize a hostile world. Yielding to this fear would make them abandon the dangerous mission in order to save their skin. So Jesus instructs them in today’s gospel on how to overcome this crippling fear. The key is to look unto Jesus as their hero and model.
The word martyr means witness - one who testifies by his death to a value or a truth which is greater than his life. We need to remember that the driving force for martyrdom is always love - red-hot love! A martyr is one who can be said to be burning with love for Jesus Christ and his Church.
Some years ago, a Christian minister and a group of students from Canada went to Kenya for a summer field study program. They had a jeep to enable them travel deep into the rugged hinterland. On one of their travels the vehicle broke down and they had to employ the services of the village mechanic. The mechanic saw the problem, travelled to the city and bought spare parts, came back and fixed the car. He spent three full days working on the car. The clergyman was afraid that the mechanic’s service charges would be too high. In order to force the mechanic to settle for less, he went into the washroom, removed much of the money from his wallet and hid it in his socks. The idea was that when the mechanic tells him the cost he would open his wallet and say “Look, this is all I have.” So he comes out of the washroom and they are ready to leave. He says to the mechanic, “So now, what do you charge for your workmanship?” The mechanic looks at him and says, “You are a man of God. I do it for God. God will pay me. For you it is free of charge.”
Yes dear brothers and sisters, Jesus is the greatest martyr, the greatest witness. He lived the truth from the beginning of his life and ended by giving his life for it, the truth his Father sent him to bring to the world.
As John Lennon said: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
We are called to be missionaries going out to the whole world and spreading the good news. We can never help anyone in this world when we are fully equipped or wealthy. By the fact we are helping the people who help the people we are becoming part of that universal mission of Christ. There are millions of people who have nothing to eat a day. Whatever you wanted to do for the people in the third world countries you need financial help, if you want to teach them you have to provide food clothing and transportation.
God is not asking us to be a mother Theresa or become a martyr, but he is giving you and me a chance to do what we can do to help at least one family or a person to lead a life worthy of human being.
There is nothing big or nothing small in giving, even a small sacrifice you make today for the Missions in the world will prayerfully be remembered by someone who is in utter need of your help.
One evening a mother and a child were coming back home after a long evening walk and on the way they got into a restaurant and picked up their dinner package. While they were walking this little child saw a poor man in the nearby waste barrel searching for his daily food. This child remembered the catechism class where she learned about the loving God. She hold tightly on her mothers’ arm and asked Mammy, mammy let me ask you a question. Is God alive, yes, is our God is a good and loving God? Yes. Mammy my teacher told me today Our God is a good and loving God and wherever you are in need you pray to God and God will send angels to help you. Is it True Mom? Yes indeed. If that is right why didn’t God send and angel to help this poor man to find a meal a Day?
Wow that is a real aching question. Mammy just paused a moment. And said “honey, who told you that God did not send an angel today. He did send you. Take our dinner packet and go and give it to that poor man and be an Angel of God Today. Yes dear brothers and sisters. By helping the Mission you are becoming an angel of God for someone.
I thank most sincerely Bishop Edward Ukmiec, Director; Fr Joseph J Sicari and your loving and caring Pastor Fr Walter P Grabowski and all staffs parishioners of the church of Immaculate Conception for allowing me to come and stay here and for all your love and support. Dear friends; Write your name in the hearts of people you meet that is where it will stay.
Thank you so much for your love and help, I assure my prayers for you and Please keep the missionaries and their activities in your day to day prayers and be part of the mission duties of our Faith life.

Happy Father's Day

Mission Appeal and Fathers Day
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
I am Fr Sunny John, a Carmelite priest from India. I am coming from a country where there are more than 1.1billion people and there are 23 official languages. India is a federal republic of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories. You May not fully understand me, you know why, because English is not my language.
Do you remember in this Fathers’ day weekend the 1974 rock song by Harry Chapin “Cat's in the Cradle”?
The song is told in first person, and relates the story of a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. Though the son repeatedly asks him to join in childhood activities, the father always responds with little more than vague promises of future quality time, which is peppered with images from nursery rhymes. While the son grows up loving and admiring his father, he picks up his father's habit of putting family on the backburner.
Years pass and the lonely, aging father, who is now retired and free from the constraints of work, desires yet again to spend time with his son, who by this time is a family man himself. Hoping to make up for lost time, the father reaches out to him again. The son however has his own life and family to worry about; he warmly responds that he is now too busy with his own work and family to spend time with (or even talk to) his father. Like his father once had, the son promises that someday in the future they will spend time together. The last verses end with the lines "I'd love to dad if I could find the time/You see my new job's a hassle and the kids have the flu/But it's sure nice talking to you, dad … And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me/He'd grown up just like me/My boy was just like me …". The father realizes that his son is now giving him vague promises like he once did to his son. The last line also says that the son's prediction about growing up to be like his father came true, although not in a way the father would have liked, and that the recurring lines of "we will get together then...we are going to have a good time then" are purely imaginary. I don’t think I need to tell you more in this Father’s day to examine ourselves.
A father was watching his young son trying to dislodge a heavy stone. The boy couldn't budge it. "Are you sure you are using all your strength?" the father asked. "Yes, I am," said the exasperated boy. "No, you are not," the father replied. "You haven't asked me to help you."
Yes dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, that is why I am here today to ask your help for the Carmelite missions all over the world.
As John Lennon said: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
We are called to be missionaries going out to the whole world and spreading the good news. We can never help anyone in this world when we are fully equipped or wealthy. Have you ever satisfied with what you have my dear brothers and sisters? If you say yes, then you are saying lies. God is asking to show our love towards others. By the fact we are helping the people who help the people we are becoming part of that universal mission of Christ. There are millions of people who have nothing to eat a day. Whatever you wanted to do for the people in the third world countries you need financial help, if you want to teach them you have to provide food clothing and transportation.
God is not asking us to be a mother Theresa but he is giving you and me a chance to do what we can do to help at least one family or a person to lead a life worthy of human being.
There is nothing big or nothing small in giving, even a small sacrifice you make today for the Missions in the world will prayerfully be remembered by someone who is in utter need of your help.
One evening a mother and a child were coming back home after a long evening walk and on the way they got into a restaurant and picked up their dinner package. While they were walking this little child saw a poor man in the nearby waste barrel searching for his daily food. This child remembered the catechism class where she learned about the loving God. She hold tightly on her mothers’ arm and asked Mammy, mammy let me ask you a question. Is God alive, yes, is our God is a good and loving God? Yes. Mammy my teacher told me today Our God is a good and loving God and wherever you are in need you pray to God and God will send angels to help you. Is it True Mom? Yes indeed. If that is right why didn’t God send and angel to help this poor man to find a meal a Day?
Wow that is a real aching question. Mammy just paused a moment. And said “honey, who told you that God did not send an angel today. He did send you. Take our dinner packet and go and give it to that poor man and be an Angel of God Today. Yes dear brothers and sisters. By helping the Mission you are becoming an angel of God for someone.
I thank most sincerely Bishop Howard Hubbard and your loving and caring Pastor Fr David Mickiewicz and all parishioners of St Casimir St. Stanislaus and St John the Baptist Church for your love and support. I humbly ask our Loving Father to bless all the fathers here. Heavenly Father Bless them with peace and joy as we honor them all the days of their life. May they, like the men in the scriptures and Joseph, the foster Father of Jesus, be just and true. Dear friends; Write your name in the hearts of people you meet that is where it will stay .Not on sand waves wash it away; Not in the sky wind blows it away.
Thank you so much for your love and help, I assure my prayers for you and Please keep the missionaries and their activities in your day to day prayers and be part of the mission duties of our Faith life.

10th Sunday ordinary Year A

I desire Mercy
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Reuben was a proud and self-righteous Sunday school teacher. One day he was teaching the children the importance of living a flawless Christian life, using himself as an example. Toward the end of the class, he asked the kids: “Why do people call me Christian?” After a moment’s pause, one of the kids answered, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.” Some of us are like Reuben. People call us Christian simply because they do not know us well enough. To make matters worse, sometimes we do not even know ourselves well enough, and all it takes is a serious temptation or crisis to reveal us to ourselves.
In today’s gospel we read about men like Reuben who think they have it all when it comes to being right with God. They are the Pharisees. The Pharisees are people who have committed themselves to one hundred percent observance of the whole Law. To make sure they do not break the Law, they make other laws to protect the demands of the Law. For example, the Law demands that one pay tithes on one’s capital income. In order to make sure they do not default on that, the Pharisees go beyond the requirements of the Law and pay tithes on everything they own, even on the vegetable that grows in their gardens. Thus they become very scrupulous in the observance of the fine details of the Law.
In their observance of the Law, the Pharisees were uncompromising both to themselves and to other people. They figured that if they could do it, so should everyone else. As a result, they became excessive and unreasonable in the demands they made of other people. The Pharisees categorized everybody into two groups: saints and sinners. People who, on account of their job could not observe all the 613 demands of the Law were labeled sinners. These included such tradesmen as shepherds, butchers, tanners, and tax collectors. People took Pharisees for heroic men of God because people see only the outside. Some people consider me as a good person; I know only handful of them but they know me only one hour in a week. I could be a nice person for one hour. Like that they are fixed in their ways and in their minds. They can no longer learn. They can no longer change. The “sinners” are much better. They know they are sinners, they can learn, and they can change. So Jesus invites Matthew the tax collector, the public sinner, to join him. When Matthew’s friends, the tax collectors, hear that there is a man of God, Jesus, who accepts them as they are, they flock to him to celebrate the good news.
Now we all point our finger towards Pharisees. Look at your hand when you point, as you have three fingers pointing right back at yourself. When we go to sporting events, for example, we stand for the national anthem. The words of the song are from a poem about a battle during which the flag remained flying. But for the most part, although we may sing along, we don’t give much thought to the meaning of the words. And our participation doesn’t necessarily guarantee that we’ll be more committed to the flag or to our country. Rather, it’s something we do because we’re expected to do so. Just try sitting during the national anthem and you’ll know what I mean. There are also verbal rituals. “How are you?” we ask, oftentimes not really interested in the response. Nor are we terribly honest when we’re asked how we are. The point is simply this: We all engage in ritualistic behavior. And if you ask, why we’re doing it? It’s just because we’re in the habit of doing so; or because we’re expected to do so; or because we’re just unwilling to face the truth of our own emptiness?
Godliness is more than keeping the Law. If it was only a matter of observing the Law, the Pharisees would be saints. Godliness has more to do with our ability to admit that we are all sinners. This will make us more disposed to learn and to change our ways, more disposed to accept other people as they are.
We can "do sacrifices" left and right, but if our motive behind such sacrifice is not pleasing to God, then it is worthless. The fact is, all human beings are sinners. St. Paul’s letter to the Romans says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Paul didn’t say just tax collectors have sinned, or just prostitutes or politicians or thieves or drug addicts have sinned. He said ALL. That means everyone.
The church is for sinners, and it is populated with nothing but sinners. If only sinless people were allowed to become members of a church, then in Protestant churches only Jesus would be allowed to join, and in Catholic churches only Jesus and Mary would be welcomed. Every church should have a huge banner hanging above the front doors: “Sinners Only. Perfect People Not Welcomed Here!” And the good news is that our God IS A God of Mercy.
We shall conclude with a prayer by Peter Marshall: “Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change. And when we are right, make us easy to live with.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.A

9th Sunday ordinary

Doing the will of God

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
After Sept. 11th, one company invited the remaining members of other companies who had been decimated by the attack on the Twin Towers to share! At a morning meeting, the head of security told stories of why these people were alive... and all the stories were just the little things.
As you might know, the head of the company survived that day because his son started kindergarten.
One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.
One of them missed his bus.
One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.
One’s car wouldn’t start.
One had a child that dawdled and didn’t get ready as soon as he should have.
One couldn’t get a taxi
One man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.
Yes dear brothers and sisters when we are stuck in traffic(God alone knows what all things come out off our mouth), miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone…at all the little things that annoy us. Think to yourself this is exactly where God wants us to be at this very moment. God is at work watching over you. Just follow his will.
Make Jesus as our Rock and hang on to Him doing His will. The story is told about a shipwreck. One of the sailors, thrown from boat, flailed about in the water, thinking he would surely drown. As he moved his arms, trying to stay afloat, he felt something solid about a foot below the water level. He grabbed it and, even though the sea was churning around him, he managed to hold on. When dawn finally arrived - and the tide had gone out - he realized he was holding onto a rock some distance from the shore. A boat came to rescue him. They asked him, "Didn't you shake with fear when you were hanging on that rock."
"Yes," he replied, "but the rock didn't."
In today's responsorial psalm we prayed, "Lord, Be my rock of safety." You and I are like that sailor - tossed about on a dark sea. Like him, our one hope is reaching out for that rock - and holding tight when we find it. There will ship wreck even if we are doing the will of God, but God will be there as the rock. Morning will arrive.
It is not enough that we hear God's Word, but that Word must touch every element of our life. We can prophesy and that is not enough! We can do might deeds and that is not enough. True conversion means that our actions, our thoughts, our feelings—everything about us—must be firmly and clearly formed by God's Word.
Through the Gospel Jesus is asking us to do the will of God the Father. In Matthew 6:10 Jesus taught us to address the Father in these words” Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in Heaven” And Jesus is the real example of His teachings. In Luke 22:42 in The Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to His Father in these words” Not my will but yours be done”.
Jesus did not say that no one who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom. He said, rather, that not all who say that will enter.
So, who among those who say "Lord, Lord" will enter? Answer is very simple; those who do the will of the Father.
What does God want us to do?
First and foremost, God wants us to follow the teachings of His son Jesus. At the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”(Luke 6:27-28). In his sermon on the Last Judgment, Jesus tells us; to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked.”(Mat. 25: 31-46)
Mahatma Gandhi once compiled a list of the seven sins of the modern world. Those sins are: wealth without work, business without morality, science without humanity, pleasure without conscience, politics without principle, knowledge without character, and worship without sacrifice. We know that there is nothing fancy there, just the basics.
Secondly God wants us to live out the plan he had in mind for us when he created us. To use the talents God gave us, not for our own selfish interests and pleasures, but for the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth.
It is not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who does the will of God the Father.
Let us end this reflection today with the famous prayer of St. Ignatius. It has to do with God’s will. “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will- all that I have and call my own. You have given it all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Feast of Visitation May 31

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Our heavenly Mother Mary is the woman who was always there where she should have been: in Bethlehem, when the shepherds or magi came to adore the new born child (Lk 2, 16; Mt 2, 11), in Cana (Jn 2, 3) and on Calvary (Jn 19, 25). She would also be in the cenacle, beside the community being born (Lk 1, 14). She who said Yes to the Lord at one time maintains this Yes at all times: in happy and difficult times.
She is the woman of service. Her cousin was more in need than she and she didn’t hesitate in placing herself at her service (Lk 1, 39. 56).
we are shown, side by side, the two women, one seemingly too old to have a child, but destined to bear the last prophet of the Old Covenant; and the other woman, seemingly not ready to have a child, but destined to bear the One Who was Himself the beginning of the New Covenant. The Visitation is an anticipation of the final happiness of the encounter. Elizabeth was pregnant with two thousand years of waiting; Mary bore the hoped-for Eternity in her womb. The Old and New Testaments embraced in the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth.
It is this meeting that we celebrate today.
Mary visiting with Elizabeth. What gift did Mary bring to Elizabeth? We are not told that she brought foodstuff, although she might as well have brought some. We are told she brought just one thing: herself. She gave Elizabeth the gift of her very presence. And, dear friends, this is the best and the hardest gift of all. It is easy to send flowers, it is easy to send a parcel, but to give the gift of ourselves, to make out the time to be with somebody, that is the gift that many people long for but do not receive.
Another point we can make out of Mary's gift to Elizabeth is that one should give not according to one's convenience but according to the needs of the receiver. It was not convenient for Mary to travel the lonely, dangerous road from Galilee to the hills of Judea. It was certainly for her an uphill task. But Elizabeth needed a helping hand. She was six months pregnant and would no longer be able to go and draw water from the village well, to look after the crops in her garden and the animals in her farm; she would no longer be able to go to the market to do her shopping. So Mary, as soon as she learned that Elizabeth was six months pregnant went with haste and stayed with her for about three months, meaning, until she gave birth. Mary gave to Elizabeth what she needed when she needed it. That is the perfect gift.
Do you know one thing everybody needs today? Everybody needs encouragement. Everybody needs the interior peace and joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. This is what Mary's visit did for Elizabeth.
This is what we are asked to impart to one another as Christians, as the Temples of Holy Spirit. That is what we need to pray today through the intercession of Mother Mary, to impart joy and peace in our places.

Corpus Christy
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
If you wonder, what is the most precious gift that Jesus Christ gave to his church? The most precious gift that Jesus gave to his church is that which we celebrate today, the gift of his own body and blood in the form of bread and wine.
Flannery O’Connor, the noted writer of the mid-twentieth century, tells a story. She took a Protestant Lady friend with her to Mass a few times and after a short time the Protestant decided to become a Roman Catholic. She asked why she reached this decision. The Lady answered, “Well, the Priest is horrible and the sermon is so terrible, I knew there must be something else there to make all these people want to come.”
For us believers, this power of the Eucharist to attract people is justification enough to believe in the Real Presence.
Most of you may remember that in 1985 every television in the country showed footage of a woman who got pinned beneath a falling crane in New York City.
The TV cameras showed a team of paramedics fighting to keep her alive until a large crane could be brought in to lift the fallen crane from her.
The medical people gave her fluids, blood transfusions, and massive doses of painkiller. Then came the dramatic moment. The woman had a request of her own. She asked for the Body of Christ in Holy Communion. This too, the television cameras caught in all of its moving drama. It was a beautiful witness to the woman’s faith in the Eucharist.
Eventually, the woman was freed and rushed to a hospital, where a team of medical people saved her life.
Because we usually receive the Eucharist each time we go to Mass, we can tend to fall into the habit of receiving it routinely. As a result, we can tend to lose our appreciation of it.
Let me make this suggestion today. As you walk down the aisle to receive the Eucharist later on in Mass, focus your thoughts in a special way on who it is that you are to receive into your body.
A man who had had a few too many drinks stumbled across a Baptism service on a Sunday afternoon down by the river. He proceeded to stumble down into the water and stand next to the Minister. The Minister turned, noticed the man and said, "Mister, are you ready to find Jesus?" The man looked back and said, "Yes sir, I am."
The Minister then dunked the fellow under the water and pulled him back up. "Have you found Jesus?" the Minister asked. "No, I didn't!" said the man.
The Minister then dunked him under again, brought him up and said; "Now brother, have you found Jesus?"
"No, I did not!" said the man again. Disgusted, the Minister repeated the dunking, brought him up and demanded, "For the love of God, have you found Jesus yet?" The man wiped his eyes and said, "No sir I have not, but are you sure this is where he fell in?"
Many of us, when we hear the name of the feast that we celebrate today, the Body & Blood of Christ, think of the consecrated bread and wine. And, on one level, our thinking is true. If, however, our experience stops with this understanding and goes no further, then we miss something that is most significant. It is true, as I said, that the consecrated bread and wine are the Body & Blood of Jesus, but equally important, so are we. This is what happens when we celebrate the Body & Blood of Christ, that we are the Body & Blood of Christ.
St Thomas who composed Lauda Sion (Laud, o Zion) teaches us “The purpose of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is to achieve unity among the members of the Body of Christ.
In other words that Body on the Altar is for the sake of this Body in the pews. All of us, rich, poor, black, white, whatever our ethnic background, whatever language we speak, are united in Christ because we are caught up into his Body and Blood when we receive him in Holy Communion and he receives us.
Pope Leo I, who lived back in the fifth century says, "The effect of our communion in the Body and Blood of Christ is that we are transformed into what we consume." Do we realize this? My dear brothers and sisters!
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, our Pope Benedict XVI, who we might call "the theologian of the Church," says, "The Church is the celebration of the Eucharist; the Eucharist is the Church; they do not simply stand side by side; they are one and the same; it is from there that everything else radiates."
Yes dear brothers and sisters, this great feast invites us to ask ourselves, what does Holy Communion mean to us? If we do not appreciate it as much as we did the first time we received Jesus, then something is not right! Today when we come to receive Jesus, try to receive Jesus as if we were doing so for the first time- or for the last time- in our lives. Only a loving God could have given us such an unimaginable gift. The greatest gift ever we can receive when we are alive.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

photo of my previous parish St Stephen church 29th street :view from Empire State

Mission Appeal and the Trinity Sunday
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
I am Fr Sunny John, a Carmelite priest from India. I am coming from a country where there are more than 1.1billion people and there are 23 official languages. India is a federal republic of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories.You May not fully understand me, you know why, because English is not my language.
On this Sunday every year we remember that God is our Father, our Daddy or Abba, and our brother Jesus who is Immanuel, God with us and nothing can separate us from his love except sin, and God is also the Spirit who helps us in our weakness.
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.
A 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 you 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?" yes dear brothers and sisters Trinity is a mystery and we can’t fully understand it.
As we heard in our Gospel,
“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost.”
Because God loved everyone, it is our duty to love our brothers and sisters who are in need. last Friday’s First reading from St James 2:15 we heard that “if a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “ go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?’
As John Lennon said: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
We are called to be missionaries going out to the whole world and spreading the good news. We can never help anyone in this world when we are fully equipped or wealthy. God is asking to show our love towards others. By the fact we are helping the people who help the people we are becoming part of that universal mission of Christ. There are millions of people who have nothing to eat a day. Whatever you wanted to do for the people in the third world countries you need financial help, if you want to teach them you have to provide food clothing and transportation.
God is not asking us to be a mother Theresa but he is giving you and me a chance to do what we can do to help at least one family or a person to lead a life worthy of human being.
There are many events occurring in our world that disturb us.
This May 12, 2008 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck near the major city of Chengdu China's biggest killer since 1976's Tangshan quake, conservatively estimated to have taken 250,000 lives. This killed more than 78,000 lives leaving many as orphans.
On Dec 26, 2004 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This is the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900. The earthquake generated tsunamis which swept across the Indian Ocean within hours. Millions of people lost their lives in this disaster. You have shown your love and concern to them and still people are not recovered from these calamities.
There is nothing big or nothing small in giving, even a small sacrifice you make today for the Missions in the world will prayerfully be remembered by someone who is in utter need of your help.
One evening a mother and a child were coming back home after a long evening walk and on the way they got into a restaurant and picked up their dinner package. While they were walking this little child saw a poor man in the nearby waste barrel searching for his daily food. This child remembered the catechism class where she learned about the loving God. She hold tightly on her mothers’ arm and asked Mammy, mammy let me ask you a question. Is God alive, yes, is our God is a good and loving God? Yes. Mammy my teacher told me today Our God is a good and loving God and wherever you are in need you pray to God and God will send angels to help you. Is it True Mom? Yes indeed. If that is right why didn’t God send and angel to help this poor man to find a meal a Day?
Wow that is a real aching question. Mammy just paused a moment. And said “honey, who told you that God did not send an angel today. He did send you. Take our dinner packet and go and give it to that poor man and be an Angel of God Today. Yes dear brothers and sisters. By helping the Mission you are becoming an angel of God for someone. I thank most sincerely Bishop William Murphy and your loving and caring Pastor Fr George Michelle and all parishioners of St Patrick Church for your love and support. As 2 Corinthians 13:13 says “The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” Amen.