FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent is always the same: The Temptation story of Jesus. This is for several reasons. I would like to mention three of them.

Primarily it is to caution us about the reality of temptation. Temptation is real. If Jesus, the Son of God struggled with temptations, then what about us?

Secondly, it is to teach us about the nature of temptations. Most temptations do not have an evil face. Consider the first temptation of Jesus. Jesus was hungry. He had the power to perform miracles. What was wrong in using his power to make bread? It seems fine. However, it was a deceptive suggestion. Jesus understood it. It was a suggestion to distrust God’s providence. It was a suggestion to use his talents for his own satisfaction.

Thirdly, it is to give us the proper tool to fight against temptations. Jesus turned to the Scripture for guidance. The Psalmist describes the Scripture in the following way: “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Ps 119.105)

What are your temptations? Reflect your life in the light of the Gospels. Name it and tame it.

START NEW
7 Sunday in Ordinary Time

One evening Little Tony started crying। “What is wrong with you?” His Mom was curious. “I want a bell”, Tony replied.” It is evening. Go to sleep. I will get it for you tomorrow morning”, she tried to comfort him. Tony was stubborn. He cried even louder. Finally, he fell asleep. He woke early in the morning and started crying again: I need a bell. His mom went to the store and got one for Tony. Ringing the bell, Tony started crying even louder…” What is wrong with you now?” Tony’s mom asked. “I want to ring it yesterday”, Tony replied…! Can he ring it yesterday?

Many people do not know how to live in the present. They still live in the past. Our obsession with the past paralyzes us, arrest our growth and make us unable to move…

When they brought the paralytic to Jesus, Jesus said to him: Your sins are forgiven. He did not say right away ‘rise and walk’. Sin is always related to a past event.

God wants to make our life new. How do we make our life new? There is one condition! We need to let our past go and focus on the future possibilities. Listen to what God says: Remember not the things of the past. I am doing something new. God is willing to bypass our past. Am I willing to let my past go?

FOUR WEEKS LENTEN REFLECTION
Tuesday February 28, March 6, 13, 20
7.15pm in the Church
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Feb 28 : In the desert with Jesus

March 6 : People of the Kingdom

March 13 : The Voice of Calvary

March 20 : Rising again through the Sacramental life

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Presenter: Fr. Sebastian

FAITHFUL DISCIPLE AND FAITHFUL CITIZEN
29THE SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

“Give to creaser what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” This is the central message of the Gospel today। Jesus made this statement responding to the question of the Pharisees about paying Tax. They raised this question not with any good motif. Their goal was to tarp Jesus. If Jesus said ‘Yes’, then He would be treated as the enemy of the Jews and on the other hand if Jesus said no, then He would be treated by the Roman Government as a rebel. In either way, Jesus would be in trouble. Therefore, Jesus gave this clever answer: “Give to creaser what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”

This statement, however, has a deeper meaning। Jesus made this proposal using the Roman coin, which has the picture of Caesar. The question is: Is there anything that does not carry the imprint of God? Is there anything that does not belong to God? When God created human being, He created them in His own image and likeness. The image of God is inscribed in each one of us. So, ultimately, we all belong to God.

The Gospel reading is, therefore, an invitation to restructure our life centering on God. What is, then, our responsibility to the society? Gandhi has an answer to this. He said, “I am in politics because I cannot separate life from belief. Because I believe in God, I have to enter politics. Politics is my service to God”. Yes, you cannot be a good disciple of Jesus without being a good citizen of the country because we live our faith in and through the society.

THE WEDDING FEAST
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Recently one of my friends said, “I went to a retreat. It was great. I am a better person now. I should have gone for this much before. Now I know what I was really missing.” We do not know what we are missing until we open ourselves to God. God has a lot to offer for each one of us.

Isaiah in the first reading says, “On this mountain, the Lord will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food…” God has everything for us in his arsenal. However, how do we profit from it depends on each one us.

The Gospel reading is about the parable of the wedding feast. Using this parable, Jesus talks about two kinds of peoples.
People who rejected the invitation of God
People who accepted the invitation of God without any interest (without the wedding garment)

The wedding garment symbolizes our baptism. At the time of our baptism, we put on Christ (wedding Garment).

The question for us today is where am in my relationship with Christ? Am I wearing the wedding garment every day? Am I growing to the person of Jesus?

When Jesus invites a sinner, he does not invite him to stay as a sinner but to grow as a saint.

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.