FAITH IN ACTION
20 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

There was a huge mountain in front of her house। She did not like it as it obstructed the front vision of the house. She happened to read in the Gospel this saying of Jesus: “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, say to this mountain to be uprooted and fall in to the sea, it will happen.” She decided to test Jesus’ words. She went to a 10-day prayer with the intention of removing the mountain. She got into her room, closed the doors and started praying. Three days later, she opened the window a little bit to see whether anything is happening to the mountain. However, she was frustrated to see no movement. She continued her prayer. On the 9th day, she opened the window one more time to see the power of prayer. Still nothing happened to the mountain. In her anger, she said to herself: “I knew that nothing would go to happen… I wasted my time”. She quit the prayer on the 9th day.

Her prayer lacks two things: trust and perseverance। She started praying with doubt, her doubt overshadowed her faith, and eventually she gave up her prayer.

The Gospel reading for the 20th Sunday in ordinary time presents a perfect example of faith through the story of the Canaanite woman। This woman had all the reasons to doubt. She was not part of the chosen race. She was an outsider. The conventional wisdom was against her. However, she broke the self-imposed and the socially forced barriers. She took the risk and was not willing to give up. The magnitude of her faith and the strength of her persistence were tested several times. By His silence, Jesus ignored her, by His comment (I have send only to the lost children of Israel) Jesus rejected her and by the choice of His words, Jesus humiliated her. However, she sticks to her demands until it yielded result. Faith is throwing oneself into the hands of God. It is approaching God without prejudice. It is all about complete trust.

Through her story, Jesus too, taught his disciples a couple of vital lessons। First, the essence of faith is trust, and nothing else. Ritually and legally, you may be an insider in the religious structure but only through trusting faith, you can become an insider in the circle of Jesus.

Secondly, God’s house is “house of prayer for all people.” Our mission is to reach out and embrace all, regardless of their standing. This was the mission of Jesus. “I have other sheep which do not belong to this fold, I have to bring them too,” Jesus said while explaining the parable of the Good shepherd. How is my attitude towards people who do not fit into my religious category? How do I make others feel at home in our parish community?

BE STILL
19 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

While I was in India, last year, I went to see a circus with my Mom। Walking on the rope was an important item of the circus॥ This person walked on a rope without any support. The rope was placed about 20 feet high from the ground and 30 feet long. He was about to fall at different but he managed to keep the balance. After the program, I had a chance to talk to him. “How could you walk on the rope?” I asked him. “It is the power of the focus. All the time my whole body and mind was focused on one thing….As long as I could hold my attention intact, I could do that”, he replied.

In the Gospel reading this morning we have the story of Peter walking on the water. Walking on the water is something impossible. He was able to do that because his eyes were fixed on Jesus, all the time. As soon as he shifted his attention (distracted)from Jesus, he began to sink.
Walking on the water is an expression used in the Scripture to talk about people who are going through struggles। We all have struggles and anxieties. I saw a man in the chapel yesterday. He looked sad. He lost his job. A woman has a different story to tell. “My mom fell and broke her shoulder. I cannot join my new job that I got after a long break”, she said.

When we go through struggles and anxieties, we are in panic। We focus more and more on our crises. The more we focus on the problems, the more they appear to be terrible. It takes our focus from God. This was what happened to Peter. He was terrified by the storm. He looked around for help forgetting about Jesus. He started sinking.

The good news is that God is always there for our rescue। Jesus came to the help of Peter and said,” Peter do not be afraid….Have faith”. Then Jesus stretched his hand and lifted him up. God is there in our struggles and pain. He is whispering to us,” Do not be afraid”. He is there with his helping hands.

The problem is that often we do not hear his voice, because the noise of our problem is too high that they eclipse the voice of God. Elijah found God when the storm, earthquake and fire finally calm down. We need to calm down and place ourselves in the presence of the Lord. We need to go to the mountain of the Lord in prayer. We will hear the comforting message God: Do not be afraid. We will also see the helping hands of God.

18 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
IN HIS HAND EVERYTHING IS PLENTY

For our reflection, this weekend we have a great story of God’s caring and compassionate love। Jesus communicated this message though the miraculous feeding of the crowd.

Before He began His public life, Jesus spent forty days in the desert praying and fasting। He felt hungry. Saten tempted him, saying,”You have the power to perform miracle. Why can’t you change these stones into bread and eat?” Jesus rejected the wisdom of Satan. He refused to use his god given power to satisfy his needs. However, as we heard from today’s Gospel reading, when Jesus saw the crowd in the desert and realized that they had nothing to eat, He used his power to perform a miracle. He multiplied bread and fed the crowd. Jesus used His God given gifts and talents for the good of others. This underscore the basic Christian principle: We are here for others and we belong to one another.

Even though Jesus had the ability to do it alone; however, he used the help of his disciples। He asked their fair share. Jesus asked them: Bring to me whatever you have. Jesus wants to do the same today. Our community has several needs. Community does not have gifts, only individuals. No single individual has all the gifts. Together we have more than what we need.

Often time we think, we do not have enough। At times, we refused to take the initiative thinking that the problems are too huge and it is beyond our reach. God do not expect us to solve the problem alone. He is there for our help. God expects us to offer whatever we have. Nothing is too little in His hand. Five loaves of bread is more than enough to feed five thousand. “In his hand water is wine”.

“With God we are somebody, without God we are nobody” St. Therese. “Nothing is impossible with God” John the Evangelist. Let us ask this question: What are my gifts and talents? How am I using it? Am I afraid of failure?

17 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

If Jesus comes to you today and tells you: I am going to grant you one of your wishes, what is that you are going to ask?
Our first reading presents a similar situation. God came to Solomon and said,”Ask any one wish, I will grant you”. Any king aspires for three things: long life, wealth and victory over the enemy. However, Solomon asked none of these. Instead, he said,” Give me wisdom….the ability to discern what is best”.
Wisdom means divine knowledge.
Today we live in a complicated and complex world. At times, we do not know where to turn and what to choose. Push/ Pull- I have seen these two words on the door of different offices. It happened to me different times. Instead, pushing the door, we pulled it and instead of pulling the door, I pushed it.
More than ever, we need wisdom today.
Wisdom helps us in three ways.
1. Like the person in the first parable, it helps us to discover the real treasure of life. The three wise men from the east find the real treasure when they find Jesus. Jesus and his Kingdom is the real treasure.
2. Like the person in the second parable, wisdom gives us the courage to give up what is less important in view of the priceless treasure of life. Again, the three magi gave up there palace and all other material comforts to posses Jesus, the real treasure.
3. Like the person in the third parable, wisdom help us to be aware of the attractions that distract us from focusing on what really matters. For example, the Magi took a different route after meeting with Jesus.
Let us pray for the wisdom to know the way and the courage to stay focused and the perseverance to reach the goal.

17 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
IN PERSUIT OF WISDOM

Once a Genie appeared to a man and said, “You may ask any one wish that you think more precious for you. I will grand it.” My brother is dying. I want to reconcile with him before he dies. Please grant me the gift of reconciliation”, he replied. The Gene was impressed with his request. Out of curiosity, the Gene asked him, “Definitely it is a great wish! What motivate you to reconcile with your brother at this last moment?” “Oh he is worth for one billion”’ he answered.

Our first reading is about a promise. God said to Solomon, “Ask anything! I will grant it for you”. What did Solomon ask? He did not ask for wealth or power, instead he said, “Grant me the wisdom……” He knew the power of the wealth of wisdom.

All the three Gospel parables talk about people who understood what really matters in life. They talk about people who found the real treasures of life. We all treasure certain things! Do we treasure what really matters? This is important, as our heart is where our treasure is. Our life centers on what we values the most. I remember this incident. Tom was a businessperson from Mumbai. I met him about 20 years ago. He was a no practicing Catholic. On a number of occasions, I invited him to the Church. One day he said, “Father, Church and religion is for people who are over 65 years old”. A few months later, his wife died in a car accident. It devastated him. He came to the Church on the same evening, crying and grieving. He said to the pastor, “I lost my wife. My wealth and influence could not save my wife. The very thing I trusted failed me…Help me”

We know what matters in life. The treasure that sustains our life is Jesus, the Word incarnated. The question is: Do we take necessary steps to achieve it? The people in the parable not only discovered the real treasure of life but also sacrificed everything else to achieve it. Let us pray for the wisdom to discern God’s ways and the courage what is right. As Paul says, “ Everything will work for the good for those who put their trust in God.

YOUR KINGDOM COME
16 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

I was reading this story from the life of Bl. Theresa of Calcutta. One day, on the way to school where she was teaching, Bl. Theresa saw a dying man on the street. He seemed to be abandoned and helpless. She felt pity for him. Like the Good Samaritan, she nursed him and took him to a care center. She had a similar experience in the following week. These experiences made her to reflect…Little by little she realized that God had placed in her heart a compassion for the abandoned. She did not ignore that feeling. She reinforced it by responding to every similar situation. The tiny seed of compassion grew big. Bl. Theresa became a universal symbol of compassion and kindness….

Today Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God. What is the Kingdom? Obviously, it is not a territory, a social or a religious structure. It is reign of God in human hearts. It is a situation where God’s will materializes here on earth as it is in heaven. It is a situation where peace, justice and fellowship flourish.

Kingdom of God does not happen all of a sudden. Kingdom becomes a reality when every individual person finds out his/ her God given virtues and uses it for the good of the community. The truth is that every person has some divine sparks in him/ her. It may not be very explicit. Like a mustard seed, it may be very tiny. However, if we nourish it, like a mustard seed it has the potential to grow big. Bl. Theresa was not born as a symbol of compassion. She discovered her gift, nurtured it and used it for the good of the community.

What is the gift that I have? Every gift whether it is small or big has a social dimension. The gift is given in view of a community. Even if you do not have any gift, believe me you yourself is the gift. Your presence, the way you conduct yourself….can inspire and bring hope to many. When we recognize it then the Kingdom of God takes root in our society.

ON THE ROCK OF THE WORD OF GOD
15 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

I have a cousin. He was not practicing his faith. Recently he attended a Bible Retreat. After the retreat, he called me and said, “Father I was touched by the retreat. I am a new person today. I would have gone to the retreat much earlier. I should have listen to the whispering of the Holy Spirit long before. Now I realized what I was really missing.”

All the readings this Sunday, especially the Gospel passage, talks about listening. There are two kinds of listening.

1. Listening without passion and having no interest of changing one’s heart. The seeds fell on the stony ground, seeds fell on the way side and the seeds fell among the bushes represent this kind of listening. They are OK with either way. They are halfhearted people. One day a priest visited a dying man to administer the sacrament of anointing. The priest asked him, “Do you denounce Satan?” He did not give any answer. The priest asked him again. Still there was no response. The priest was curious,”Why don’t you respond to my question?” “Until I don’t know where I am heading to, I don’t want to take a risk”, the dying man responded.

2. Listening with a passion for Change. The seed fell on the good soil represents this kind of listening. Listening is a process. The Hindu Gurus talk about a Mantra: Sravana Manana Nithithyasana ( listen, meditate and personalize.). Listening with passion consists of these three steps.

A person who actively listens to the Word of God and acts upon it is like a person who built his house on solid rock. They also reflect the Word of God in their lives.