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Resurrection and HypocrisyLuke 20: 27-38, November 4, 2007.Tell me, do you remember what today’s first reading said? It is an unfair question, I know. Most often the first readings for the Sunday Masses are very difficult to understand and therefore to remember their contents. Since we do not know their background they come across as dry and abstract. The second reading comes very close to this reality. However, Gospel readings are easier to understand and I just proclaimed it to you. Tell me, what is the main theme of this Gospel reading? Does it say that marriage is for life? Or that the Church does not recognize marriage outside the Church? Is it about divorce?All these questions are important. They have already been answered and they will be dealt with in the future. However, the main message of the Gospel reading is different. It is the message on the resurrection of the dead and the hypocrisy of the leaders at the time of Jesus. The Israelites were divided into several groups. There were Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Levites and Publicans (tax collectors). The Pharisees and the Sadducees belonged to the highest class. They were the educated people of the society. They knew their religion, their faith and their doctrine. On the point of doctrine, they were divided on one issue: the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection. They were adamant about it. The Sadducees on the other hand rejected resurrection. They did not believe in it. They claimed that bodily death is the end of everything. There is no resurrection of the dead. They were adamant on their opinion. It is with this background that they came to Jesus. Is there resurrection of the dead or not? Jesus’ own response was that they did not understand the nature of life after death and life after resurrection. It is a new way of life. We do not understand it. We still think that we will be continuing the same type of our present life with families and friends and bank accounts except that we may be in a different location. Jesus declared the resurrected life will be different to the extent we do not fully understand it. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were divided on the above mentioned issue. However, they were most united on another issue. It was the fact that they wanted to put Jesus to death. It was because Jesus had pointed out their hypocrisy to them. They were pretending to be religious and were observing all the external religious rituals but their hearts were far away from God. Jesus invited them to experience change of heart and conversion and to embrace a more God centered life. They did not want to do that. They wanted to remain where they were. So they decided to get rid of him. The case of the same woman marrying seven men was a parable. They invented this ingenious parable to trap Jesus. No matter how he responded to their question, they were determined to find fault with the response and a reason to condemn him. If he had said yes, there is resurrection of the dead, he would have been in trouble with them. If he had said no, there is no resurrection, he would have been in trouble too. The reading says they did not succeed in catching him in his own speech. We are in the month of November. I would like you to know that a major portion of the New Testament consists of the letters St. Paul the apostle wrote to his Church communities. At least three of them directly deal with the question of death, resurrection and the second coming of Jesus. He strongly affirms the bodily resurrection on the last day when Christ comes again. He teaches them that this is an essential part of our doctrine and faith. If there is no resurrection of the dead, he claims, then our preaching is useless and our faith in vain. But Jesus rose from the dead, so we too will rise with him. In the month of November I would like you to realize this. It is a fact that there is a lot of hypocrisy in today’s world, today’s society and today’s communities. There is a lot of hypocrisy in the Church communities. So many Catholics live like pagans. That means, their way of life isn’t any difference from those who are not baptized or those who do not follow Jesus. They are into materialism and consumerism. They are into gambling. Instead leading a God centered life, they lead a self centered life. Also instead of devoting time for God and for sharing their gifts with the needy and their church, they multiply their own wants. Their ways are set. They will not change. If somebody preaches the Word of God to them and invites them to return to God and to God’s values, they rebel. They use all kinds of excuses and justifications to explain their way of life. They blame others for their way of life. This is hypocrisy. The months in which we find ourselves now, November and December, are beautiful months. We celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving to whom? Thanksgiving to God! In our thanksgiving festivities, God has to come first. In our Christmas festivities, God has to come first also. After all Christmas is all about what God has done for the world! Open your hearts today to God’s ways! Renounce materialism, any hypocrisy, any selfishness and allow God to come in! Lives of honesty, sharing, service, devotion to God and to God’s community, these alone can bring us lasting joy, peace and fulfillment in life. May we choose to be the people of God! Conversion of a ThiefStory of Zacchaeus. Luke 19: 1-10. November 4, 2007
When I was small, a visitor came to our house. It was a visit my family still remembers and talks about. I was eight years old. We were in the rice fields plowing the land. Suddenly we saw a tall person with a long white robe coming to our house. He was the assistant priest of our parish. At that time, priests had to wear long white cassocks.
We left our work behind and came home to welcome him. Of course, we were embarrassed because we were soaking wet and our hands and face were filled with mud! He had come to ask for a donation because the parish was celebrating the jubilee of the pastor. The parish church was about five miles away from my home. He had taken a bus and had come to my home. My father gave him five rupees. At that time those five rupees were equivalent to $100. My father gave him everything he had. His donation was extremely sacrificial. That visit made us all very happy. Even today we tell stories about that visit.
Jesus’ Visit to ZacchaeusToday’s Gospel reading also speaks about a visit. Jesus visited the house of a certain Zacchaeus in a city called Jerico and spent the night there. Who was Zacchaeus? The Gospel reading tells everything about him. However, in case you do not understand it fully, I will tell you in a simple way: Zacchaeus was a thief! He became rich by stealing money from people! And Jesus went and stayed at his house as if He approved of his stealing!
Before I speak more on this, I need to point out that Palestine at the time of Jesus, was divided into two main parts: the north and the south. In the north was the Sea of Galilee. Jesus performed His public ministry around the Sea of Galilee. In the south there was Jerusalem, the center of the Judaic religion, Judaic culture and Judaic cult. There was only one road from Galilee to Jerusalem. The only city on this road was Jerico. It was an ancient city with an ancient civilization. Jesus was going to Jerusalem, so he passed through Jerico. It was in this city that Jesus met Zacchaeus. Who was he?
ZacchaeusZacchaeus was a chief tax collector. People hated tax collectors because they were collecting money for a foreign emperor who was cruel and oppressive. More importantly they hated them because they were demanding more money than what was due in taxes. The balance went to their pockets. Tax collectors were rich! Their wallets were full! They were thieves! Zacchaeus was rich! His wallet was full! His house was big because he was a thief! Yet, his heart was empty! He was longing for God! He was longing for salvation! He was longing for God’s love. His wallet was full but his heart was empty! All his money could not give him the type of peace he wanted.
Jesus’ visit to his house could have been interpreted as a scandal. Certainly it was revolutionary. Yet, He went to Zacchaeus house because His mission was to bring God to all, saints and sinners, and all to God. He had come to our world to offer salvation to all. And behold, in this case, His mission was successful! Zacchaeus was converted! There was a miracle in his life. It was more than his willingness to share his wealth with the needy. It was the fact that he felt the presence of God. He was filled with God’s love. He became a new person. Jesus said to him: Today salvation has come to this house. Our Hearts and our WalletsAs I have mentioned several times very clearly, I want all people to enjoy life, their possessions and their time. There is only one life! However, we are still in the Jubilee Year. In this year, we ask the question: is there emptiness in our hearts and in our lives? Our wallets may be full. We may have all the material things we want to have. We may even be longing for more things. Will these things alone make us happy? This is the year to recognize that we need our God. And wanting God is not words. It is a way of life. This way of life means allowing God to come into our hearts and listening to God’s message to us.
Three weeks ago, I spoke about being the stewards of God. I drew your attention to the materialism surrounding us, and the danger of falling into it. If we yield to materialism and consumerism, God can become just a nominal person. And we might not even know that this is happening in our lives. On this Sunday I ask you to lead a God centered life by renouncing materialism and by being open to give thanks to God for all that you have by word and deed. It is only when we put all that we have into right use that we find so much peace. It is only when we accept the fact that being stewards of God means caring for our families, our communities and our Church in a way that is a sacrifice for us, that we discover the presence of God, which can create miracles in our lives! Choose between Humility and ArroganceStory of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee; Luke 18: 9-14 Oct. 28, 2007 In most countries of the world people are divided into different groups, tribes and castes. The lowest caste in India is the untouchables. One has to take this expression literally. The untouchables are not allowed to touch anybody outside of their caste. They are not allowed to have any contact with the outside world by entering a home for a visit, a restaurant to eat, a temple to worship and a public place to recreate. They live in destitution. Recently however the government has done a lot to improve their condition. At the time of Jesus too there were divisions among the Israelites. There were the Pharisees who belonged to the highest caste. Then there were the Sadducees, the Scribes, the Levites, etc. The lowest class was that of tax collectors, also called publicans. Tax collectors were people who collected taxes. They were hated by the society and were given the nickname of “sinners”. That is because they were collecting taxes for a foreign ruler – the Roman Emperor – who was cruel and oppressive. More importantly tax collectors were extortionists. They were demanding more than what was owed. The balance went to their pockets. The wallet of the tax collectors was full. That is, they were rich. Their houses were big. The Gospel reading speaks about two people who went to Mass on a Sunday. Possibly both of them lived on the same street. Certainly they knew each other. The first one was a tax collector. The second a Pharisee. The tax collector did not have to go to the Church at all if money was the only thing that mattered to him. He had lots of it. His wallet was full! He did not go to Church to ask God for a better job or for more money. He went to the Church because his heart was empty! That means, he had felt the absence of God in his heart. He was longing for God. He was longing for God’s understanding and mercy. Because of who he was and what he was doing he did not feel worthy to speak to God, to pray to God, to enter the Church. All that he did was humbly to stay outside of the Church building and say to God: I am sorry. I am a sinner. Have mercy on me. The Gospel tells us he went home justified. In other words, he received God’s forgiveness, God’s compassion, God’s salvation. He received peace, reconciliation and a new beginning. The second person to go to Church was a Pharisee. He went straight into the Church and told God to congratulate him. His prayer consisted of his own praises. He even compared himself with others and told God he was better all of them. He wanted God to look at him and sing: How Great Thou Art. God could not come to him. God could not enter his heart because it was full of himself. There was no room for God there. He did not go home justified because his arrogance, his judgment of others, his ego prevented him from recognizing his human condition. He missed the point. He went home without experiencing God’s love and healing. We are in the Jubilee Year. This sacred time in the parish is meant to examine our lives in a way that is truly honest. Is there real humility in our lives? The word humility comes from the Latin word: humus meaning the ground, the earth, that which is below us. Humility means our ability to recognize our dependence upon God. We need to express our dependency by our way of life. Real dependency means acknowledging that all that we are and that all that we have come from God. They are God’s gifts to us. We need to be grateful to Him in word and deed. Arrogance, pride and ego are contrary to humility. They make us center of everything instead of God being the center of everything. They also make us think we earned them on our own power. We do not have to depend upon God. We can manage very well without God. Our ego hurts others. More importantly it hurts us. It prevents us from growing. Our greed hurts us. We need to be aware of our responsibilities toward our family, our world and our Church. Let us have the humility to accept this fact. Materialism can take us away from God and leave our hearts empty. We need our God! We need to be dependent upon Him. In this Jubilee year, ask God to help you to know your humility and anything that can be contrary to humility in your life. St. Augustine always prayed by saying: Lord, grant that I may know you and that I may know myself. Let us say good bye to arrogance and welcome humility into our lives. Let us be open to God’s Word as our light and our guide.
Homily on the Construction Projects July 16, 2006 During a recent Diocesan meeting, I shared the following with a priest: “I love to be in Clinton and my parishioners are proud of their parish because it is they who have made the parish grow all these years and I want to be with them a little longer in order to make the parish grow further.” I said this sincerely.
The theme of today’s first reading is preaching of the Word of God courageously. The main message of the Gospel passage is evangelization and the spread of the Kingdom of God. Jesus did that by word and deed. However, his ministry had its own limitations.
Historically, he did it for three years only. Geographically, it was confined to a small place. But the Kingdom of God had to be brought to all peoples of all places. Who was responsible for making it happen? It was the disciples of Jesus.
Today’s Gospel reading tells us that Jesus sent them out on a mission. It was the mission of preaching the Kingdom of God. They carried out their mission by word and deed. They healed many as a sign of the arrival of the Kingdom. If vibrant Christian Catholic communities exist in all the countries of the world today, it is the disciples of Jesus who are responsible for them.
Youth Ministry at St. Mary’sThis Gospel reading is not new to you. You have heard it before. More importantly, you are implementing its message here in our parish. You are making our parish grow by word and deed! Some years after I was appointed, some parishioners approached me requesting an active youth ministry here. They told me they would organize it. I only had to consent to it. Thank God for the day when I said yes to their idea. At once they constructed a youth center and organized a weekly youth Mass! Dear friends, your parish is offering you, your children and grandchildren a precious gift: an active youth ministry. At this very moment a great youth retreat is taking place in Attleboro, MA. Guess how many youths have gone to it from our parish? Forty-four plus thirteen adults!
The Stained Glass Window of the Visitation; Parish Center The beautiful stained glass window at the back of the Church depicting the biblical event of Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth - who got it done? You! Also, the construction of the Parish Center and the revision of our parking lot was your doing.
Our Church is your Second HomeYou have your own homes. You need to maintain them. This Church is your spiritual home and the house of God! This also needs maintenance. I have been communicating with you on the need for a new roof over the lower section of the Church and a whole new roof over all other adjacent buildings! This has to be done before the winter!
Our Parish Needs to Grow NowThis Church building is 50 years old. It is beautiful! The entrance was designed to enable the people enter and exit so that they could hear the Mass. Today a parish is seen as a big family. All the elements we see in a natural family should be found here: a spirit of welcome, greeting, community, ministry and so on. This entrance does not permit that. It is mostly crowded! During weddings and funerals, we need much more space at the entrance and much better doors! Practically speaking, the glass doors are sinking in their cement beds. We need a bigger entrance. This growth has to take place now! You have to make it happen! The pews in the Church are fifty years old. Their wood needs attention. We also need a centralized and modern library.
Capital CampaignIn order to realize these projects, we have started a capital campaign. I am most grateful to about twenty-five volunteers who are working closely with me on this campaign. They have not only made their sacrificial pledges, but are also visiting some homes to enlist their pledges. Since we did not hire a professional fundraiser, some organizational problems may arise. For example, you might have been called by more than one person. This is not deliberate. I apologize for it and ask for your understanding.
The goal of the campaign is to raise $600,000. So far our volunteers have raised pledges totaling $195,000 from 132 American, Hispanic and Brazilian families. Ten of these pledges are substantial and I am most grateful to them. Two families outside of the parish have pledged $15,000. Our Bingo and Ways and Means Committee have pledged $50,000 each. Thus we have $310,000 in pledges! We have reached half of the goal and still need to raise $290,000.
Make Your Sacrificial Pledge today! You can make it happen! We have 1400 registered families in our parish. Out of these, only 132 have participated so far! We can meet our goal and even go beyond it, but all have to participate. I ask all our families to participate in our campaign. I ask you to pledge $3000 payable over a three-year period. That means setting aside $2.74 a day for God. If this is not possible, I propose $2000 ($1.83 a day). And if this is difficult, please pledge at least $1000 (92 cents a day for God!). I ask you to make your pledge a sacrificial offering to God so that God’s work may be done for you and your children. And do that sacrifice in love!
I thank you for your generosity! However, the real thank you comes to you from God! May He bless you with every good gift! May He grant you peace and joy for all that you do so that His Kingdom may be established. Fr. Michael Sequeira Easter Homily: Intense Questioning April 2006 Do you recall the name of a certain Natalie Holloway? She was a high school graduate who went to Aruba about a year ago and mysteriously disappeared there are three suspects but the mystery of the disappearance has not been solved. Somebody here said that a good lawyer should have separated the three suspects and individually subjected them to intense questioning then the truth would have come out. This was never done and it is too late now. In as much as I care for her and her family this homily is not about that case the only reason I mention here is for the expression intense questioning. Do you realize there is a good amount of intense questioning in our own lives? For example think of the police and criminal investigations and interrogations in a courtroom. In the church I cannot allow anyone to marry without first questioning them seriously. Do you promise to take this man woman etc. Do you promise to be true to him/her etc… In the confession the priest should ask weather the penitent promises to give up sin, forgiveness of God can be given only if the answer is yes. So there is a good amount of intense questioning in our daily lives. What we celebrate tonight namely the Easter Vigil is considered to be the most important liturgy in the entire year. This liturgy recalling Jesus dying from the dead is centered around intense questioning that means I should be asking you some questions seriously and you have to answer them all and answer them truthfully. Everything that happens until that moment namely the readings, is a kind of preparation and everything that follows, namely consecration and communion is a follow up. The questions that I will be asking you are called our baptismal promises they are the promises that you made at your baptism the only reason why you were baptized was because you answered all of them and you answered them truthfully. Let me tell you what these promises are: Do you reject Satan and all sin and all temptations, Do you believe in God etc…. Tonight as we celebrate the Vigil we ask you to renew these promises. This night is the most suitable night to renew our baptismal promises because Jesus resurrection was like a new creation. He came out from the dead as a completely transformed person. He became a Spiritual Being. He died to His past life and rose to a new life. In the same way when we are baptized we die to our past life of sin. That life comes to an end. We rise to a new life of Grace. We promise to live like the children of God. Thus we experience resurrection in our own lives. So when we celebrate Jesus Resurrection we also celebrate our own resurrection by listening to these questions and responding to them Know all of this sounds like beautiful preaching you might say this is the Churches theological language we have heard it before and we will hear it again. Perhaps you may not fully understand the meaning of renewing baptismal promises. For this reason I would like to translate what I said until know into a language you can really understand and I want to do that by telling you a true story. When Fr. Carlyle Blake came to teach the parish mission three weeks ago. I put a certain amount of snacks on the counter for him. After he left I noticed a certain amount of Doritos left over. Know I should not be eating them instead I should be looking at them and saying I renounce thee Satan. But that night I was so tempted that I yielded to the temptation and decide to eat the forbidden fruit. So I put the Doritos in my hands, went to the living room sat down and began to eat them. I made a certain amount of crunchy noise. The boss was sitting on the sofa opposite me when he heard the crunchy noise he got up sat next to me, planted his paws on my lap, put his mouth into my hands and began to eat my Doritos. And the crunchy noise he made was much louder than the noise I made. I wanted to kill him. I had a long day and just wanted a little pleasure of disobeying my doctor and eating the forbidden fruit. And he took away even that little pleasure from me. I was irritated. That night when I was fast asleep, he jumped on my bed, stood on my chest and put his nose against my nose. I said to him, go away, I don’t have Doritos anymore. Guess what he said, he said Fr. Michael I need you. I realized this was his way of apologizing to me. I need you and guess what I said I gave him a big hug and said. Roman Catholic, I need you more than you need me. This was my way of telling him that I not only forgave him but also gave him peace. When he heard this he became so happy that he fell asleep on my chest I could not breathe. I said God deliver me from this burden. And God said I will allow it for half an hour. If you are still alive by then, call me back. Brothers and Sisters, irritation anger, division, happen in our lives certainly in our families and in our communities. Renouncing Satan and his temptations mean, willing not only to forgive but also to grant peace. It also means to be patient, understanding, broad minded and open minded. Further it also means willing to dialog and resolve the problems peacefully. If needed it also implies seeking professional help or counseling. Do this and you have experienced resurrection in your life. As you know with the help of a family in Guilford, I have been able to go to South America and learn Spanish and Portuguese. When I am there, naturally I have to eat out. When I walk looking for a restaurant I notice that waiters of many restaurants stand on the streets with the menus in their hands. They show them to the passersby and invited them to come to there restaurants and once they come in they serve them joyfully and efficiently. You might say that they do that to get good tips. Friends for all their hard work they do not get any tips. In South America people do not give tips at all. You might say that than they work hard to get a good pay. Let me tell you how much they get. They get $18.00 for an hour. No. For a day, No. The 18 dollars is a salary for the week. They and there families have to live on that. Brothers and Sisters, renouncing Satan and sin means willing to work for justice and love as much as we possibly can. It means realizing that we have a big loaf of bread in our hands, we are willing to give a small piece of that loaf to the alien living in our mist by giving him our support understanding and love. Caring for the alien in our mist is a strong biblical command. Renouncing Satan also means overcoming our greed and sacrificing our lives generously for others sake. Do this and you have experienced resurrection in your life. One of the Questions that I will be asking you is this: Do you believe in God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit? Friends this question is not about believing in God in our heads, anybody can do that. Even the Hindus in the village where I was born in India believe in God. What this question really means is this Do you want God in your life or not? If your answer is yes, let it be seen by the way you live. Let it be seen by the amount of time that you give to God through prayer, through God’s worship, through God’s service. The only reason why we became Catholics was because we are meant to be part of a community. Taking active part in the life of the Faith community is an essential requirement of the catholic faith. Do this and you have experienced resurrection in your life. I’m about to ask you these questions please respond to all questions and respond to them truthfully. After each question pleases say I do in a way that I can hear you. And if you cannot say I Do you are welcome to say I don’t. Let me hear that also. In that case you may inevitably go through some reflection on your own life. May the celebration of the resurrection this year, truly make us all Gods people.
A Homily for Epiphany The word Epiphany is really a Greek word. It means “revelation” or “manifestation” or “demonstration” or “showing forth.” The feast of the Epiphany means Jesus was revealed as the savior of all the nations and of all the people. The Bible tells us that God sent Jesus as the redeemer of the whole world. But he had to be born in a particular location, in a particular country, and among a particular people. He could have been born anywhere, but in God’s wisdom he was born in a city called Bethlehem in a country called Palestine among a people called the Jews. However, as I said before, he was the redeemer of the whole world and the people of the world had to know of him. So God, in his mysterious ways, told all the people that Jesus, their Savior, was born in Bethlehem. The appearance of a special star was one of the mysterious ways of God. And people of the world, consciously or unconsciously, understood God’s message. They realized that their savior was born in a distant location. They wanted to go to that location, find their Savior and adore him. But not all of them could do that, so three persons representing all the different peoples of the world came to Jerusalem. They are called the Magi or the Astrologers or The Three Kings. They were guided to Bethlehem. The found Jesus, adored him, and offered him their precious gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts represent things that were very precious for them. By offering these precious gifts, they offered their whole lives to Jesus. Because of this, the epiphany is as important as Christmas. That is why today’s first reading says, “Rise, Jerusalem, for your splendor has come. All the nations will come to you carrying their precious gifts.” The second reading says that the pagans have become a part of the church. The gospel reading tells us that King Herod became extremely jealous of the child Jesus. He thought that he was going to lose his kingship so he tried to have the baby Jesus killed. But he failed. Why? Because he was fighting against God and nobody can succeed in fighting against God. Let us realize that we are in the hands of God. Today we are surrounded by the powers of evil and sin. However, they will never succeed in hurting us. God is our protector. Speaking about God guiding the astrologers to Bethlehem, I want to share my own story with you. When I was celebrating a Sunday Mass about a month ago, I thought that God spoke to me. I thought that I received a message from God. It was to make the year 2006 a year of special spiritual renewal here at Saint Mary’s. I am not a person who frequently claims that God has spoken to me or appeared to me in a dream. I do it very rarely. I am not denying that God speaks to you or to me, but I am questioning how we discern what really comes from God and what really comes from ourselves. It is very difficult to discern, but I do believe this idea of the spiritual renewal has something to do with God. Following God’s message to me, therefore, I will be organizing many programs for the spiritual renewal of this parish for the year 2006. I ask you to cooperate with me. Also I ask you to give me your own ideas on it. Let us make this parish a special community of Jesus’ disciples.
We Have a Need! When I was studying at the University of Notre Dame years ago, one of my professors used to tell us stories from her own life. She was a single woman and had the desire to be a wife and a mother. She told us she used to go to different campus gatherings such as cocktail parties, receptions and ask the women there the following question, “How does it feel to be a mother?” The reply she got was “To be a mother means loving somebody else more than you love yourself for the first time.” You may agree with this response fully or partially. On my part, I admit I love my son very much. Precisely because he is totally dependent on me for food, shelter, and love, I want to be there for him always. That is, I want to make many sacrifices to make him happy. I am sure that in saying this, I am giving you a lot of material for a good conversation at the Christmas dinner table. You could probably say, “Did you hear what he said? He has a son! How did he manage to hide this from us?” Please know that the name of my son is Roman Catholic. That is the name I have given to my cat! He is a Catholic! Right now he is in the parking lot checking on your cars.Our Need to Give God Has a Need to Give and Christmas is an Expression of that Need However, God could have given us all of this by writing a letter to us. Or, He could have sent a prophet, or John the Baptist, to us with the same message. He did not do that. Instead He gave us the gift of peace in a personal way. He entered our world, took on human flesh and became like one of us. He began to live like one of us. Therefore, the child of Bethlehem is not just any child. It is God in a human form. He is God becoming our father or mother, brother or sister, neighbor or friend. What we are celebrating in this Mass is a great mystery. It is the mystery of God descending into our world, taking on human flesh and living among us visibly. Rightly then, the prophet Isaiah calls the child of Mary, “God-Hero,” “Wonderful Counselor,” “Prince of Peace, Emmanuel.” Our own response to the mystery unfolding itself before our very eyes in the celebration of this Mass should be a sense of awe, wonder, praise, thanks giving and adoration. We Have a Need to Give to God Celebrating Christmas means realizing we have a need to give to God. It means accepting the fact that we should make a lot of sacrifices for the sake of God. We should give God the time that is due to Him. I hope that your experience of exchanging Christmas presents, eating a Christmas meal together, and having a family reunion is enjoyable. I simply want you to have a good Christmas. However, if you want God to be a lived experience in your life, that is to say to allow God to influence your life, to transform your life, to touch your life, you have to go beyond Christmas meals and Christmas presents. We should give God enough time by worshipping him and by being an active part of the parish community. It would mean making a lot of sacrifices for the sake of God. That is the only way we can know our God and feel His transforming power in our lives. We need to have some relationship with Him! Today as you celebrate Christmas I ask you to give to God the time that is due to Him. You need your God. You need your church. And you need your sacraments. And you have to show you need all of this by the way you live, not just by words. I ask you today to allow Jesus to be born in your family. I ask you to allow Jesus to be born in your own life. Please make this year’s Christmas special by recognizing your need to give to God. What is Happening to Christmas? Your Christmas Promise to God
St. Mary’s Prayer for Discipleship Loving God, We give you thanks for all your gifts to us, especially the gift of this new century and the third millennium of Christianity. Above all, We give you thanks for sending us Jesus your Son. In Him, you have revealed to us the fullness of your love, compassion and forgiveness. You sent Him to us as your messenger of justice and peace, reconciliation and healing. Open our hearts to the understanding of His Good News and help us to proclaim it to all the world. Enable us to bring unity where there is division, love where there is prejudice, respect where there is contempt. As the parish family of St. Mary’s, may we become your instruments in bringing your salvation to all your people. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord, Amen. Archived Homilies from Fr. Michael – download |
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