PURIFICATION AND CLARIFICATION
Fist Sunday of Lent, February 21

Tiger Wood, “I thought I can use whatever I have, to get whatever I want. Today, I realized that this is a wrong philosophy. I messed up my life. I want to return to my religion”.

Lent is a time for purification and clarification

The Temptation Story of Jesus helps us to identify our own temptatations and they also teach us the ways to overcome them। For instance: Jesus was hungry. He was tempted to change stone into food. It is important to eat when we are hungry. However, changing a stone into food is not a normal way of earning our bread. The Word of God helped Jesus to realize it. Means do not justify the goal.

We all experience different kinds of hunger: hunger for food, hunger for pleasure, hunger for job, hunger for fame, hunger for name….They are real. We need to handle them properly. How do we satisfy our hunger? Where do we turn to fulfill them? Similarly, gifts and talents are given to us for the good of the community. Jesus used his ability to create food when he saw the hungry crowd.

Jesus turned to the Scripture for answers……Scripture is our reference point. “It is not how much we achieve but how much we overcome that matters…”

WELCOME TO LENTEN REFLECTION AND PRAYER

St. Denis is offering series of reflections during lent based on the book:
The Tragic and Triumphant Cross

When? February 18, 25, March 4, 11, 18, 25
Where? POTTHOFF HALL
TIME: 7.30pm

PRESENTERS:
Msgr. Jim Loughnane
Fr. Sebastian Vettickal, cmi

ALL ARE WELCOME……….

WHO KNOWS? GOD KNOWS!
SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

There was a farmer. He lived a happy life spending most of the time taking care of his farm with the aid of his horse. One day he lost his horse. Neighbors came to sympathize with him. “What a shame”, they said. “Who knows? God Knows?” He replied. A week later this horse returned with another horse. The neighbors came to share his joy. “What a blessing”, they said. “Who knows? God knows”, he replied. One day while riding the horse his son fell down from the horse and broke his leg. Again neighbors came to offer their sympathy. “What a shame”, they said. “Who knows? God knows!” he replied. A week late a war broke out in their country. The king ordered all men over 18 years of age to join the military. They spared his son because of his broken leg. Once again neighbors rushed to his house. “What a blessing?” they said. “Who knows? God Knows!” the farmer replied.

ATTITUDE THAT BEATIFIES

Life consists of a series of ups and downs. In order to cope with these fluctuating situations of life with a calm and serene mind, a person needs an authentic vision on life and a right attitude. The readings for this Sunday talk about two mutually opposing attitudes: the right attitude and the wrong attitude. God-bound people have the right attitude of life and the earth- bound people have the wrong vision of life. Without seeing the deceptive nature of material offerings earth bound people make the worldly riches their final goal. They are eventually faced with two problems. First of all, the very thing in which they place their trust cannot help them in times they needed it most. Secondly, as it is confined to this world, it cannot go beyond the time and space aspect of our existence. Naturally it cannot connect the events of life and in turn presents things incomprehensible. On the other hand, life founded on God gives a completely different perspective on life. The beatitudes talks about that. Beatitude is an invitation to empty our heart from material possessiveness and fill it with the Spirit of God. God-bound people withstand any storms of life.

BLESSED ARE THE POOR…!

Jesus started his teaching proclaiming the beatitudes. Jesus’ audience were people with broken hearts and broken hope. They were poor, victims of prejudice and victims of religious oppression. They were real people with heavy burdens. The interesting thing about Jesus was that he found blessings in their seemingly desperate situation. Jesus did not condemn their situations. Instead, he showed them the possibility of using their situations as a means of blessings. He did so by helping them to relate their present day struggle with the cross that bridges to heaven. Jesus showed them how they could transform their poverty and other struggles as a means for achieving eternal happiness. No situation is hopeless for a person who places his trust in God.

BLESSED ARE THE RICH…!

Jesus had no problem with the Rich. In fact he blessed the rich. So, he appreciated the gesture of the one who multiplied his talents and disapproved the behavior of the lazy man. He went to the extent of saying, “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich. But from the one who has not, even what has will be taken away.” Jesus was not against the rich. Jesus wants us to take responsibility of our lives. Jesus criticized only three categories of people: Those who put wealth in place of God; those who were unwilling to share; and those who amassed wealth through illegal means.
If I do not fall in any of these categories, there is justification for my wealth.
In the parable of the rich and Lazarus, he criticized the rich man because of his insensitivity to the need of his neighbor and his unwillingness to share.

The needy and the poor are the Sacraments for the rich. When they approach the poor with their sharing hands they are administering the sacrament of their own salvation. Jesus said to the people who were sensitive to the needs of others “Enter the Kingdom of God, for you gave me food when I was hungry; You welcomed me when I was a stranger; you cared for me when I was sick…..” The rich have a better chance to please God as they have enough resources to serve the poor.

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A priest gave a beautiful sermon. The sermon had three points. The first point was: Get all you can. To this an old rich man said, “Amen”
Next the priest said, “Keep all you can” Again the miser said, “Amen. ”
Then the preacher said, “Give all you can” And the selfish man said, “What a shame to spoil a good sermon”.
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PLEASE NOTE: I WILL NOT BE POSTING REFLECTIONS DURING LENT. I WILL RESUME MY BLOG AFTER EASTER. THANK YOU!

YES! YOU CAN!
FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Is 6:2-8; 1Cor 15:1-11; Lk 5:1-11)

Yes! We can! We heard this slogan during the last presidential election campaign. Many psychologists believe that we become what we believe. Many people, however, do not believe in themselves. They constantly find excuses to shy away from taking responsibilities. The scripture reading for the fifth Sunday of Ordinary time presents three great biblical figures (Isaiah, Paul and Peter) who debated with God when they were called for ministry.

EXCUSES OR EXPRESSION OF GENUINENESS

A few days ago I said to a person: You would be a good lector. Would you please consider becoming one? This person said: “Sorry, I am very nervous to face people.” Later I found out that this person is a professor at a university. People bring excuses to avoid responsibilities. Excuses lead to empty victories. On the other hand, excuses can be expressions of who we are. They can be expressions of our state of being. In the stories of Peter, Paul and Isaiah, their excuses were not defense mechanisms but genuine confessions of their lives. It was a genuine surrender. Isaiah was in the presence of the Holy, Peter was experiencing the divine manifestation of Jesus’ power, Paul was aware of what he had done to Christ. They were taking their place before God. They were seeing their humanness. They were proclaiming that they were not in the realm of God to take up His mission, but are creatures with creaturely imperfections.

SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS AS THE BEGINNING OF DISCIPLESHIP

According to Matthew, Jesus started the Sermon on the Mount, saying: “Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” Standing before the Lord with complete transparency is the supreme quality for discipleship. When God calls someone for ministry, it is not their expertise but their willingness to serve that God counts. For it is not us but God working through us. Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not worry about what you are to say and how you are to say it; when the hour comes you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak but it will be the spirit of your Father in you” (Mt: 10:19-20). God spoke to Jeremiah, “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you.” God empowers whoever He commissions for ministry. For example, God cleansed the lips of Isaiah. An Angel touched his mouth and said, “Your wickedness is removed, your sin is purged.” God in His goodness makes us good enough to serve Him.

YOU ARE PERFECTLY FIT

People who performed great things in the past were not always great from a worldly standpoint. For example, St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, was below average in intellectual capacities. He struggled to complete his seminary studies. Jesus’ selection of the Twelve Disciples tells us the same truth. Only one among the twelve had a surname! You may not be fit for a particular ministry but definitely there are ministries that are suited for you. It is not the power associated with a ministry but the manner in which you perform a ministry that makes you powerful. In many movies, the minor characters get more applause than the main character.

FOCUS ON THE MISSION, NOT ON YOU

Problems creep up when we turn to ourselves for resources to solve the issues. People who had successful ministries were always preoccupied with the needs of the people whom they were serving. That’s the key to success! As Jesus clearly spelled out in the gospel, our mission is to become fishers of men. Our focus must be on people. People and their struggle give us power beyond our imagination. For example, the scene of people suffering in Haiti inspired many of us to make contributions beyond our calculations in spite of our financial restraints. “Yes, I can! Here I am Lord, Send me.”

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There are Three Classes of people:
The few who make things happen
The many watch things happen
The majority who have no notion of what happens
(Nicholas Butler)
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All that is necessary for the victory of evil is that good people do nothing.
(Edmund Burke)
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