Sunday Homily for Tenth Sunday of the Season of Elijah Cross and Moses

Deuteronomy 13:12-18

Isaiah 41:8-16

Galatians 6:12-18

Mathew 8:23-34

Today in the tenth Sunday of the Elijah cross and Moses church gives us the message that worship God, who is might and powerful protector of humankind, and consider all other worldly things as worthless in front of God. Through the four readings of today mother church wants her members to love God more than anything in the world. So she asks her children to get away from everything that deceives us from the love of God.

In the first reading Deuteronomy 13:12-18 we see a warning given to Israelites against idolatry. In the first part we see the warning given to the family members who try to draw other family members into idolatry. And in the second part we see the warning given to the cities who lead others to idolatry. God orders to destroy the cities which embraced idolatry. In verses 13/13 we find that a man who is leading others to idol worship considered as scoundrel. Scoundrel means “worthless” or good for nothing man. Here we see that Israelites are asked to destroy all things which lead them astray from the love and true worship of God. And the man and things which lead them away from God’s worship is considered as useless and worthless. So here God wants us to worship and love Him, only Him and all other worldly things which destroys our true worship must be considered as worthless.

In Isaiah 41:8-16 we see that the power and might of the Yahweh. Prophet Isaiah tells people that if we give prime position to Yahweh, then do not be afraid of anything in the world. Nothing can have the ultimate victory over the God. Here we can find that the personal presence if Yahweh is assured by telling them do not fear. He will be their covenant, he will strengthen them,, he will help them and uphold them. So God assures His help to those who worship Him and gives Him prime position in their lives. That is why in verses 15/16 it is said that the mountains and hills will be threshed. This means that enemies of Israelites will be destroyed by Yahweh and they are described as mountains and hills. So here we can find that those who love God more than anything in the world and consider worldly things as worthless will be exalted by God.

When we come to the third reading we see the same message given to Galatians community by St. Paul. We know that Galatians contains important information about Paul’s own life and about the beginnings of the church. It is also a key to understanding Paul’s deep faith in Christ. So in today’s reading Galatians 6:12-18, Paul gives his final admonitions by telling them to love God more than anything in the world. He gives example from his own life. He tells them that it is not circumcision and uncircumcision that matters. What is important is to love Jesus Christ and he tells them to boast in Christ and his cross. This mark of Jesus branded him as the son of God. So all other things of the world is nothing.

When we come to Mathew 8:23-34 we find that Jesus stills the storm and heals the demoniacs. We can see that this incidents follow just after a discourse on discipleship. In that Jesus tells the disciples that those who want to follow him has to make so much of sacrifices in their lives, and they shall not follow him expecting reward on this earth, that means, by expecting power, position and money etc. If they are ready to make sacrifices in their lives, they will see wonders. That is what Jesus wanted to teach them through theses incidents

In the first incident, where Jesus stills the storm we can see that the disciples were afraid and they cry-out to Jesus to save them. And Jesus accuses them for their little faith, then we can see that Jesus stills the storm. Here Jesus wanted to convey the message that those who follow him must have strong faith in him and they should not be afraid of any worldly powers, because in front of him all worldly powers are nothing.

In the second incident also we see the power of Jesus, who is good and has power over the demons. That is why when they saw Jesus, they were afraid. Even they understood the power of Jesus. Here we can see a paradoxical situation. Nature and demons understood the power of Jesus and those who are called did not grasp it. Through these incidents the evangelist wanted to convey the message that God’s might is over the nature and also over demons. Nothing in the world and any other world is greater than God.

Now let us come to our life and evaluate. Do we consider and love God as greatest in the heaven and on earth? Do we really give prime importance to our Lord? Do we consider worldly things as worthless when compared to God? The sad thing is that we are giving importance to many other things than to God. Sometimes we even live as if there is no God. We try to amass wealth, power and position in the world. We go after them, because of our greed. In the modern world we are after money, giving too much emphasis for money. Then we are worshipping money. Each person has got his/ her own crazes. Then understand that we are moving towards idol worship.

That is why church asks us to come back from worthless position to worthy position, from idol worshipper to true God worshippers. Give prime position to God more than anything in the world. So church tells her children to worship God, who is might and powerful protector of humankind, and consider all other worldly things as worthless in front of God. For this grace let us pray in this Holy Eucharist. Amen

By Boby Kaiyalakakathu MST

MISSION SUNDAY AND ALSO NINTH SUNDAY OF THE SEASON OF ELIJAH CROSS MOSES

Acts 22:6-21

Mathew 28:16-20

Today the mother church celebrates Mission Sunday. Church specially dedicate this day for remembering our great missionaries who had sacrificed their lives for the spread of the gospel and also to pray for the success of the mission work. It is also a day to support and encourage mission work through our small efforts like prayers, contributions, mission work etc. through baptism we all are missionaries and we all have got missionary responsibilities as we are members of this missionary church through our baptism.

In today’s Gospel, Mathew 28:16-20, we see that the disciples are commissioned by Jesus for the mission work. The main theme of today’s gospel is the commissioning of disciples by Jesus for the mission of the world. This missionary mandate is important for us Christians, because of its nature. We are all bound to preach the gospel and spread the kingdom of God because of this commandment. When Jesus said to his disciples to go and preach the gospel and make disciples of all nation, he said to us. It has got a universal nature. Now as Christians, as Disciples of Christ in the present world we are bound to do mission work. So now there is no doubt about the responsibility which is upon us to preach the gospel.

Now the question in our mind is how we can do the mission work or what we have to do in the mission. It is clearly expressed in the mission mandate. We have to do four things in the mission; first response to the call by going, second make disciples, third to baptize and fourth to teach.

In the first step we have to respond to God’s call. As we know mission means a particular task which is to be fulfilled. In order to fulfill the task we are sent by Jesus. To preach and spread the good news to the ends of the world we are all sent. What is our responsibility is to go. Accept our call and respond to our call to mission work by obeying the person, who is sending us. Jesus calls us and sent us.

The second thing is to make disciples. It is very necessary in mission work to make disciples who live according to the Christian values. It is here we can accept other religious brethren on our mission areas. When we preach the gospel, people will come to know the gospel values, then they will be attracted to us. They will assimilate the gospel vales and live according to that. Then they will become disciples of Christ.

The third step is to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So baptizing is the third step. We should not jump into the third step first. We should not show too much interest in baptizing other people. First let them become the Disciples of Christ. Many people who received baptism and went away from the church is because of over enthusiasm to baptize them. Today we have to understand that what is important is to impart Christian values to them and make them the disciples of Jesus.

The forth step is to teach them to obey the commandment of God. That is also very important to note in the mission work. When we try to teach the do’s and don’ts of our religion they will not be interested in our long dogmas and teachings. It is a gradual process. Slowly make them to understand the commandment of God and teach them to obey it. We know that if we try to impart our Christian doctrine to the people, they will run away from us.

Now one question remains in our hearts. Are we able to carry out the mission? Or will our mission be successful? Jesus tells “I am with you always.” Here Jesus not only gives the commandment to preach the gospel, but also gives us the strength and gives us the assurance that he will be with us always. So if he is with us our mission will be successful, there is no doubt about it.

Today when we come to Acts 22:6-21 we see the conversion of Paul, the great apostle to the gentiles. If we clearly observe this conversion scene we can find all the techniques used by Jesus in order to make Paul his own. First of all Jesus selects him, send him, makes him the disciples and baptizes him and at last teaches him. And we can observe that till the end of the mission Jesus was with him.

Jesus selected the disciples and commissioned them. In the same way Jesus selected Paul too. it was during his journey to Damascus, in order to persecute the Christians, Jesus touched him. There we can see that Jesus makes him to go to Ananias. So here we see the aspect of sending.

It is clear from the words of Paul “what am I to do, Lord?” he calls Jesus Lord, this expression is peculiar to a disciple. Jesus made him a true disciple when Ananias told him to regain the sight. So that time onwards he was ready to do anything for Jesus . he had strong conviction in Jesus.

Then we see that Ananias gave him baptism in the name of the Father, through baptism he gets the responsibility of a missionary. He goes forth for the mission of the gentiles. So in the case of Paul it was a sudden process, but we have to understand the life he lived as a strong Jew, persecuting the Christians, killing Stephen. So we can say that the success of mission is the matter of Jesus. He works wonders in the mission through us. When we also come to the real conviction like St. Paul, our mission will be successful.

As missionaries, are we ready to take up the mission work seriously? Do we have real conviction? In our mission too we can observe these four rules, accepting the call, making disciples, baptizing and teaching. Our call to missionary life may be our own family life or whatever state we belong to. It is our duty and responsibility to be a model for people who belongs to other religions. Then through our life we are preaching the good news to them. They will praise Lord our God looking at our life. In this mission Sunday let us take a pledge that our life will be a life according to the commandment of Christ, which is based on love for God and love for people.

 When our lives are according to the love of God and love of neighbors, people will be interested in us. They will automatically flow to us by seeing our exemplary lives. They will also glorify our God. Mother Theresa preached the Gospel through her life and she openly proclaimed Christ whenever she got a chance, but nobody persecuted her. They were all attracted to her life. So many missionaries preached and sacrificed their lives for the mission. Let us also follow their footsteps. And through our life let us preach the gospel in our mission fields. Let us contribute according to our standards for the cause of mission. May God bless us. Amen

By Boby Kaiyalakakathu MST

Sunday Homily for Eighth Sunday of the Season of Elijah Cross and Moses

Deuteronomy 11:1-12

Isaiah 40:12-17

2 Corinthians 2:12-16

Mathew 20:1-16

Today in the eight Sunday of the season of the Elijah cross Moses church shows us, through the four readings the nothingness of human judgment and human organizations and the greatness of Yahweh’s righteousness. So church calls our attention to God who is Almighty and righteous and acknowledge His righteousness.

In Deuteronomy 11:1-12 we see Moses is instructing the people to obey the ordinance and commandments always. Here he is instructing the people who have seen the righteousness of God directly. They have experienced the righteousness of God in their difficulties and hardships of Exodus event. He gives this instructions after receiving the commandments of God for the second time. And Moses wanted his people to obey God throughout their lives. He tells them that the Promised Land is a gift from God for the obedience of His commandments. So in order to continue in His grace they have to obey the commandments of God. He is instructing people about these things, because he knows that people are going to enter the Promised Land without him. So they are liable to make their own judgments which can go wrong. So he makes them to understand the importance of God’s law and His righteousness, which they themselves experienced.

When we come to Isaiah 40:12-17 we see God as creator, because here we see the verbs like measuring, directing, perfecting, which shows that God is the creator of the universe. These are the metaphorical actions of the creator so Isaiah tells the people that God is all powerful and sovereign. And all the rebellious nations will be judged by Yahweh. And tells us that God is all powerful and sovereign and in front of Him all the nations are nothing. All nations are accountable before God. Here too we see God as powerful creator who righteously judge the world.

 In 2 Corinthians 2:12-16 clearly conveys the idea of nothingness of human organizations and judgments in front of God. Paul says to Corinthians that they are the aroma of Christ. They are called to spread the greatness of Christ and his judgments to all the people. So according to him those who believe and accept the word of God and God’s righteousness, for them it is the fragrance from life to life. And those who do not accept his power, for them it is the fragrance from death to death. Here Paul wanted to tell the Corinthians that those who are trusting human organizations and judgment are trusting in things which are perishing. At the same time those who trust in the righteousness of Lord trust in things which is eternal.

Today’s Gospel passage too gives a clear picture of God’s righteousness. It also shows the difference between man’s justice and God’s righteousness. That is clearly expressed through a parable of the laborers in the vineyard of Mathew 20:1-16. Here we see that Jesus says that “the kingdom of God is like a land owner.” Here Jesus wanted to show the difference between kingdom of God, which is eternal and kingdom of earth, which is perishing.

In this parable the master of the vineyard acts differently from the masters of the earth. He goes out in different times to invite laborers to his vineyard. He offers them the due wage. He even deals with them gently. He gives all of them the usual daily wage. He did not show any partiality in giving the wage. He did not even mind the time they came to work, the gender they belong to, the amount of work they have done etc. the earthly masters mind all these things, according to all these criteria they calculate the wages. That is why here the evangelist rightly tells us that God’s righteousness surpasses all the human justice. He is almighty and all good. So what is our duty is to acknowledge God’s righteousness.

Now let us turn to our hearts. Are we really trust in God’s righteousness or human justice? Do we really go to God in our hardships? Do we really consider our material wellbeing as God’s gift?

Sometimes in our life we give priority to man’s judgment than to God’s righteousness. When tension occurs in our family life we like to go to meditators than to God. We tend to think about others opinion on us in certain actions. Many of the time our actions are directed by others feeling. We may think what others will think about me I I do it in this way. We know that we have to do in certain situations in that way, but act in other way to please others. But God asks us to do the right thing at right time. Think only about the righteousness of God which surpasses man’s judgments.

So let us turn our actions infer of God. Our actions should not be led by the judgment and opinions of others. It should be based on God’s righteousness. So for that grace let us pray in the Holy Eucharist. Amen.

By Boby Kaiyalakakathu MST