MERRY CHRISTMAS
DECEMBER 25

A few years ago, a young man came to me and said: Father I would like to become a Christian. Naturally I was glad to hear it. However I asked him: Why do you want to become a Christian? He said: I am a seeker. I studied different religions and only in the Bible and in Jesus did I find a God who came to save sinners like me. He is right! As many of you know, many religions believe in the incarnation of God in one form or another. For example, we read in the Hindu Scripture: When there is a moral degradation, God will come down and destroy the sinners and save the Good people. Here comes the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Jesus came, not to destroy anyone but to save all. So when Jesus was born, the Angel appeared to the Shepherds and said: I have good news for you: A savoir is born…He will save you from sin.

Today we come together to celebrate this good news: In Jesus we are a new creation and in him we have life and hope. Jesus gives us salvation in two ways, namely, by offering forgiveness and showing a new way of life.

OFFERING FORGIVENESS

Jesus saves us by offering forgiveness. Many people are captives of the past missteps and mistakes. Many feel that they are unworthy to come closer to God. Many feel that there is no hope. I invite your attention to two Gospel stories: the stories of Zacchaus and the prodigal son. Zacchaus was afraid to come close to Jesus. Knowing his heart Jesus went up to him and said: Zacchaus, come, I am going to stay in your house today. In the story of Prodigal son, even without asking anything of his past reckless life, his father, embraced him. Jesus wants to share this Good News with us: “Do not be afraid! Come to me… I will give you rest…”

OFFERING A NEW WAY

Jesus gives us salvation by offering a New Way. The Old Testament Principal, a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye won’t work any more. They were tested and failed. So after washing the feet of his disciples Jesus said: I am giving you a new way, a way of service, humility and sharing.

At the birth of Jesus the Angels sang: Glory to God in the Highest and peace on earth. When we accept the way of Jesus, there will be peace on Earth and Glory in heaven. Because as Paul said: Everyone in Jesus is a New Creation. Let this Christmas be a time to begin a new way of living. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and every blessing of this season.

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HOLY FAMILY
DECEMBER 27

Today, (December 27), we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. This feast gives us an opportunity to reflect on what makes a family holy. A holy family is the foundation of everything good and beautiful. So on this Feast day, let us ask this question: What makes a family holy? How can we make our family Holy?

To answer this question we don’t need to go anywhere, just look at the life of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. For example consider the life of Joseph. I cannot imagine any Husband who went through struggles and pain more than what Joseph had to go through. He found his wife pregnant even before he had any relations with her. He experienced humiliation because he could not find a place for her wife to give birth to her son. He had to flee to Egypt at midnight. But he did all this faithfully. In all these things, what he did consistently was that he obeyed God. He knew precisely whom to obey. He subordinated every thing to the will and purpose of God. That made him holy and his family holy. We see the same attitude in Mary and Jesus too. When Jesus was lost in the temple, Mary asked him, “Why did you do this to us?” Jesus replied, “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” For Jesus, Joseph and Mary, the Father’s business was the number one priority. That made them Holy.

Like many other families, their family was not perfect from a worldly standard. They were poor; they had struggles; there was confusion; there were doubts. But none of these broke their family bond, because they had one purpose in common: To do the will of God. They had one lens to look through: the lens of God. So Joseph did not think of abortion when he found Mary with child. He did not think of separation, accusing her of infidelity. They did not make excuses from doing their responsibility to God. They followed the Tradition and Conventions.

Friends, the family is the foundation of a society. It is the home where we find love and warmth. It is the farm where we saw the seed of a new generation. It is the domestic Church where we meet God first in the love of parents. If the families are broken, our world becomes homeless. To attack the culture of the family is enough to destroy the world. Knowing this reality, there are forces working tirelessly to destabilize families and family values.

TWO THINGS THAT DESTROY FAMILIES

1. PRESENTING RELIGION AS A PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
The devil is not tempting us anymore with traditional weapons and materials. They upgraded and modernized its tactics. They trap us today in a very sophisticated way. First of all, they make our lives busy with too many attractive activities and programs. They present these things as vitally important and unavoidable. They convincingly present religion as a private enterprise and make us believe that God and religion can wait. They push God away from the center of our life and make it one among many (secularism). When God is pushed away from the center of my life, then I become the center of my life. My primary concern becomes the glorification of my self and not of God (individualism). How do we measure glory, greatness and success today? It is in terms of wealth and things that we possess/ have. As a result, the driving force of our life becomes the craving for wealth and everything associated with that (materialism). The truth is that we are never happy with what we have. Material things seldom give us fulfillment. They get outdated and out fashioned easily. Nothing seems permanent and stable. Evidently, we look for novelty. We try for the latest in the market (consumerism). The basic principle of consumerism is ‘be different and go for the latest brand’. Eventually consumerism, the ‘use and throw culture’ creep into human relationship and families. People give up relationships for silly reasons and go for new ones. Experimentation in human relationship breaks families and spread chaos in the society which is the ultimate goal of Devil. Devil is successfully using the tactics of taking God away from the family by keeping us and our children busy.

2. Redefining the divine institution of Marriage
Marriage is and marriage can be only between a man and a woman. This is natural law. Even the animal kingdom follows this natural precept. There are concerted attempts from certain corners to destroy this sacred reality of marriage. If their intention is to procure the same economic right and privileges of the married couple to them, they could do it very well through other means.

Friends, we cannot let our family values disintegrate on our watch. It is time to wake up. As we celebrate the Feast of The Family, let us be aware of it and take bold steps to form our families after the image of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

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Forget Father
About And
Me FAMILY Mother
I I
Love Love
You You
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