Sunday Homily for Second Sunday of the Season of Elijah Cross and Moses (Hindi Translation)

Deuteronomy 7:7-1

1Isaiah 30:18-26

2Thessalonians 2:15-3:3

Mathew 13:1-9, 18-23

vkt ,fy;k& lyhc &ewlk dky ds f}rh; jfookj esa izHkq gesa viuk drZO; vPNh rjg fuHkkus dsfy, dgrk gS rkfd izHkq gekjs fy, vPNk Qy mRiUu djsaA vkSj ek¡ dyhfl;k ;g dgrh gS fd Qy dh fpark u djrs gq, gekjs izzHkq bZlk elhg dk lqlekpkj ?kksf"kr djksA nqfu;k ds dksus dksus esa lqlekpkj dh ?kks"k.kk djus dk nkSR; gesaa izHkq elhg us gh fn;k FkkAcfIrLek laLdkj ds }kjk gj ,d bZlkbZ nqfu;k esa lqlekpkj dh ?kks"k.kk djus dsfy, gh cqyk;k x;k gSA ,d fe’kujh ppZ ds fe’kujhl gks dj gesa fe’kujh dk;Z djus esa fdl izdkj dk euksHkko j[kuk gS blds ckjs esa vkt ek¡ dyhfl;k gels dgrh gSA
vkt ds lqlekpkj Hkkx lar eRrh ds vuqlkj lqlekpkj v/;k; 13-1&9 rd ds okD;ksa esa geus cksusokys dk n`"VkUr lquk A vkSj bl n`"VkUr dh O;k[;k okD; 18&23 rd ds Hkkxksa essa fn;k gSA bl n`"VkUr ds ckjs esa geus dbZ ckj euu fpUru fd;k gSA vkSj ;g dgrk gS bZ’oj dk opu vkSj bZ’kopu ,d O;fDr ds thou esa fdl izdkj Qy mRiUu djrk gSA vkt ge bldks nwljs n`f"Vdks.k ls ns[ksaxsA ;kuh cksusokys fdlku ds n`f"Vdks.k lsA cht cksusokys dh fo’ks"krk D;k gS\ vU; fdlkuksa dh rjg bl n`"VkUr ds cksusckyk vPNk fdlku ugha FkkA D;ksafd ;g fdlku fcuk dksbZ rS;kjh ls cht cksus fudyrk gSA ;g ckr n`"VkUr ds 'kq#okr esa Hkh crk;k x;k gSA ^^dksbZ cksusokyk cht cksus fudyk** lqudj gesa ,slk yxrk gS fd og fcLrj ls mBk vkSj cksus dsfy, fudy iMk A

ge ;fn gekjs bykds ds lk/kkj.k fdlkuksa dks ns[ksa rks irk pyrk gS fd os dksbZ Hkh d`f"k djus ds igys vius [ksr esa t:j tkrk gS vksj vius [ksr dk ewY;kadu djrk gS fd [ksr mitkÅ gS ;k ugha] ikuh gS fd ugha] [kkn Mkyk gS fd ugha] d;k [ksr cht cksus yk;d gS\ ;s lc ns[kus ds ckn og [ksr dh rS;kjh djrk gSA blds ckn cksus fudyrk gSA vkSj cksus ds le; Hkh og lko/kku jgrk gS] dsoy vPNk cht gh cksus dsfy, pqurk gS vkSj dsoy rS;kj fd;k [ksr esa gh og cht cksrk gaaSA vkSj dHkh Hkh cht dks jkLrs esa vkSj iFkjhyh tehu esa fxjus ugha nsrkA og tc rS;kj fd;k x;k [ksr esa cht cksrk gS vkSj yqurs le; ml fdlku dks lS xquk Qly feyrh gSAYsfdu vkt ds n`"VkUr dk cksusokyk fdlku lk/kkj.k fdlkusa ls vyx izdkj dk FkkA ;fn mldh rqyuk vU; fdlkuksa ls dh tk;sa rks irk pysxk fd og lk/kkj.k fdlkuksa ls vizHkkoh FksA og vPNh ;kstuk,¡ ugha cuk ldrk vkSj cht cksus dk rjhdk Hkh ekywe ugha FkkA og ,d ykiokg vkSj vkylh cksus okyk gSA ;fn ;g fdlku bruk ykijokgh gS rks bZlk Qy de gksus ls cht dks nks"k D;ksa yxk jgs gaS\ cksusokys dh vlko/kkuh ds dkj.k gh cht iFkjhyh Hkweh esa ;k jLrs esa fxjkA blesa cht dk nks"k ugha gSA fQj Hkh bZlk cht dks nk"k yxkrk gSA 
vc gesa ;gk¡ lk/kkj.k fdlku vkSj bZ’oj ds chp esa rquyk djuk gS fd bZ’oj ,slk ,d cksusokyk gS tks euq";ksa ds ân; :ih [ksr esa viuk opu :ih cht cksrk gSA;g n`"VkUr }kjk bZlk gesa fl[kkuk pkgrk gS fd tc ge bZ’kopu uked cht acksrs le; feV~Vh dh DokfyfV ;k mitkÅ [ksr dh ryk’k djus dh t:jr ughaA gesa viuk dke djuk gS ;kfu gels izHkq ;g dgrk gS fd rqe bZ’kopu dk cht cksvks vkSj Qly dh fpUrk er djksA viuk drZO; fuHkkvksA ,d bZlkbZ gksdj gekjk drZO; d;k gS]\ ge viuk drZO; dSls fuHkk ldrs gS\ gekjk ije drZO; gS fd bZ’kopu dks yksxksa ds fnyksa esa cksukA bldsfy, dksbZ Hkh rjhdk viuk ldrk gSA vius Hkk"k.k ds tfj;s] v/;kiu ds tfj;s] vius deZ] opu ds }kjk ge bZ’oj ds opu dks nwljksa rd ig¡wpk ldsaxsA tc dHkh ge bZ’oj ds opu cksrs gSa rc gesa Hkh Qy dh fpUrk ugha gksuk gSaA D;safd lk/kkj.k fdlku ges’kk viuh Qy dh fpUrk djrk gS ysdu bZlkbZ vius izsfjr dk;Z esa Qy ds ckjs esa fpUrk uk djuk gSA D;ksafd Qy mRiUu djusokyk ge ugha cfYd bZ’oj gSA bZ’kopu dk cht cksuk gekjk drZO; gSA vkSj Qy mRiUUk djuk bZ’oj dh d`ik gSA

blfy, I;kjs Hkkb;ks vkSj cfguks] dHkh gesa vius fy, D;k feysxk ;k Qk;ns dh rkSj ij ge fdlh dh enn ugha djukA gesa dqN feyus dsfy,] gekjs fy, fgrdj pht er ns[kukA ges’kk ;kn j[kuk gS fd bZ’oj dbZ peRkdkj dj ldrk gSA og rhl xquk ;k lkS xquk Qy mRiUu dj ldrk gSA 
gesa Hkh vius izsfjrkbZ dk;Z esa tc Qy rhl xquk feyrk gS rc fujk’k gks dj dqf.Br gks tkrk gSA ;gk¡ gesa vius dke dks ns[kuk gS fd eSaaus dfruh esgur ls dke fd;k] og dke djus dsfy, eq>esa fdruk yxko FkkA ;fn iwjh bekunkjh ls geus bZ’kopu dk cht cks;k gksrk rks t:kj izHkq gekjs dke dk lkS xquk Qy nsaxsA blfy, izHkq dgrk gS fd rqe viuk drZO; lPps fny ls djks eSa rqEgkjs fy, Qy mRiUUk d:¡xkA izHkq ge lc dks vkf’k"k nsaA vkesuA

By Boby Kaiyalakakathu

Translated by Jijo Mechery

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

Deuteronomy 7:7-11

Isaiah 30:18-26

2Thessalonians 2:15-3:3

Mathew 13:1-9, 18-23

Today, in the second Sunday of the season of Elijah Cross and Moses, God tells us “do your duty well, I will produce the fruit.” Church gives us this message that “preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ without looking to the fruit.” It is Christ who commanded us to preach the Gospel to the ends of the world. So by the very sacrament of Baptism all the Christians are called to preach the Gospel to the world. We are missionaries by pour very nature and we are living in the missionary church. So preaching and teaching of the Word of God is entrusted to us, Christians. So today church tell us about the attitude which we should possess in our mission work and our preaching.

In the Gospel of St. Mathew chapter 13: 1-9, we can see the parable of the sower. And the interpretation of the parable in verses 18-23. We have reflected upon this passage many times. So it is about the Word of God and how it produce fruit in each one’s life. That I like to look at this parable from a different perspective. From the perspective of the Sower himself. What is the specialty of this sower? Unlike other sowers the sower in this parable is not a good sower. Because this sower goes for sowing the seeds without any proper preparation. The parable starts like this “a sower went out to sow”, as if he gets up he goes for sowing.

When we evaluate ordinary farmers, we can find that when they go for sowing the very first thing they do is that they evaluate the ground; whether it is good for sowing? Is it a fertile ground? Whether there is enough water in the ground? Is there enough soil for the plant to come up? After evaluating the ground they will prepare the ground; they take away the old thons and weeds from the land and his spades they prepare the ground. Only then they will go for sowing. But when they go for sowing too they will be more careful in selecting the seeds. After selecting the good seeds they will go for sowing. They will be carefully sow the seed in the ground which they have prepared. They will not allow the seed to let it drop in the path, or among the thons or in the rocky ground. They will sow all the seeds very carefully and place them in good soil so that they can get 100% result from the seeds.

But in this parable the sower is very different form an ordinary sower. When we compare him with ordinary sowers we can say that he is a poor sower. He has no proper planning. He doesn’t know how to sow the seeds. He is a lazy and careless sower. If this sower is such a careless, lazy and unknown person why did Jesus accuse the plants for not producing the fruit? Is it the problem of the sower or of the pant that they were fell among thons, or in the path, or on the rocky ground? Here we have to make the difference between an ordinary sower and God, who sows in our heart the seeds of the Word of God. In this parable the sower is God. And he is sowing the seeds of the Word of God. So Jesus wanted to teach us that when we sow the seeds of the Word of God, we should not look the quality of the soil, the situation and circumstances of the places. We have to do our duty. What is then our duty? How can we execute our duty?

Our duty is to sow the seed of the Word of God. We can use any method to sow the seed of the Word of God. We can use preaching, teaching, our good deeds, our homilies on the church and encounter with poor and the rich etc. will help us to plant the word of God in others. But when we sow the seed we should not worry about the result we get from the sowing. That means an ordinary person when he sows concerned about the fruit. But in the case of a Christian when he preaches or teaches he should not be bothered about the result or the fruit. It is God who produce the fruit in other persons. We cannot know that in what manner God works. He can even take the small and bad seed and he can produce 100% from that grain. So our duty is to sow the seed. And God will work wonders from that.

When we come to Deuteronomy chapter 7: 7-11, we get the same message. God tells the Israel that they were not selected as the favorite children of God because of their power and their merit. He loved them and kept his oath not because they showed respect to Him and they were righteousness people before God. But God wanted to show them that even from a small community like the Israel he can perfume wonders. Israel was a small tribe. But they could even defeat the mighty Egyptians. He could save them from the powerful hands of Pharaoh. But naturally if we imagine if we were in the place of Yahweh we would select the powerful Egyptians as our favorite people. Because we would naturally impress the world by this powerful people. They were great people and influential too. But God selected this small tribe, Israel and through them he could make this world understand that he is really powerful. So God’s ways are different from ours. His mode of operation is different. We do the action expecting the fruit, but God makes the fruit from his actions. So as we see in the sower God does not look at the soil, the land, the quality of the seed etc.

In Isaiah 30:18-26, we see that when we preach what should we preach and teach them. Tell them this is our God our Lord. And we have to make them understand that He is the God. Tell them that “this is the way; walk in it.” Our duty is to show them the real God, and show them a path to be followed.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:15-3:3, Paul tells us to pray. Why should we pray? For what cause we have to pray? He says “…pray for us, so that the Word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just us it is among you.” So we can say that it should be our attitude in our preaching and spreading of the Gospel. Pray to God to have effect for our works. We can also wish as St. Paul wished let the word of God spread rapidly. In Thessalonica the gospel spread very rapidly and they came the faith. But in other places there are people who do not understand the Gospel. That is why Paul is telling in this way. So as Paul said we can also think let our preaching produce 100%. But we should not be worried about the fruit alone. Our attitude should be that of the sower. I am a humble servant I did my duty the rest is God’s work. And thank the lord for his graces.

Now let us have a look at our own lives. When our own brothers come to us for some help, we may think that if I do this help to him what I will get. So I don’t do anything. So we do what is beneficial for us. Or when a mentally retarded person comes to our school, we may think, he does not study and he doesn’t understand anything. So let him go in his own way. If I work for them also there is no use. But remember God can produce wonders, He can produce fruits in 30% or even 100%. In our mission work too we face same problem, we don’t see the effect of our work. “I was working for these people more than I have done to my family. But they are still against me. They don’t love me. I am fed up with these persons.  Here we look for the effect of our work. Or we look at the fruit of our work. Then we will be discouraged most often. Because we see that there is no result for our effort. Then we may stop our effort. So God tells us “do your duty well, I will produce the fruit.”

So dear friends let us try to do our duty well. Then entrust everything for the providence of God, the Father. He will effect and produce fruit. In this Holy Eucharist let us pray for this grace. May God bless us. Amen.

By Boby Kaiyalakakathu MST

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

Deuteronomy 6:20-7:6
Isaiah 31:1-9
2Thessalonians 1:3-10Luke 18:35-19:10 Today in the first Sunday of the season of Elijah Cross and Moses, Church exhort us “Children of God come to Light, you have nothing to lose, but your blindness.” God our Loving Father invites us to be free children of God who are living in the light. This period of Elijah, cross and Moses encourages us to come out of the bondages of the darkness and to enjoy the true light and real freedom.  We are all God’s children and as God’s children we are called to follow in the true light, Jesus. So as children of God we can’t remain in darkness and bondage. Because Jesus liberated us to the real and true freedom. He won the power of darkness through his passion, death and crucifixion.
When we analyze today’s readings we get this same message. Come to the light and be free from all the bondages. Here light stands for Jesus himself. So today’s readings urge us to come to Jesus for the liberation from all darkness.In the Gospel of Luke chapter 18:35 to 19:10, we can find out two incidents in which two persons realizes the true light. The first one when Jesus heals a blind man and second incident is that the conversion of Zacchaeus. In both the incidents we can find out some similarities. In both cases the persons are blind. One is blind externally and Zacchaeus is blind internally. Blind man could not see his fellow human beings because of his physical blindness and Zacchaeus could not see his fellow human beings because of his greed for money. Both of them were dealing with money when they saw Jesus. The blind man was begging for money for his livelihood and Zacchaeus was begging money in order to satisfy his greed. Both of them wanted to see Jesus. The blind man was calling loudly “Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.” In the case of Zacchaeus, he climbed on a Sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. Both of them could not see Jesus because of the crowd. Because of the crowd the blind man and the Zacchaeus could not approach Jesus.  Both of them takes the risk to see Jesus. In spite of the warnings given by the crowd to stop shouting, the blind man called the name of Jesus. And Zacchaeus climbed on a tree to see Jesus. They had also one aim in their life to get sight.
When we closely observe them we can understand that both of them had faith in Jesus and they knew that only Jesus could lead them to the true light. Because he is the true light. That is why when they approached Jesus with full faith he granted them the true sight. That is why Jesus tells the blind man “Receive your sight your faith has saved you.” When Zacchaeus approached him with faith, he was ready to go to his house and stayed with him. That converted Zacchaeus. He got his sight back. Then he could see his fellow brethren and he was even ready to share even half of his possessions with them. And he also ready to give back even double amount to those whom he had defrauded. Then Jesus says “today salvation has come to this house.” So in the gospel passage we can see that these two persons, who were living in complete darkness saw the light when Jesus came to their life. That transformed their life and the life of their family.
In the letter to Thessalonians also St. Paul gives us the same message. He says that we should not worry in our persecutions and sufferings, because they are partial. They cannot conquer us always. When Jesus Christ comes, he will restore us from all sufferings. So Paul wanted to convey the message that persecutions and sufferings cannot destroy our faith. So he says that to be firm in our faith and Jesus Christ will have the ultimate victory. Because he is the true light of the world and he will conquer all the worldly powers.

When we come to Isaiah chapter 31: 1-9, we see that Isaiah tells the Israelites not to trust in the Super powers of the world. According to him alliance with the Egypt is futile. Because they cannot give standing and long lasting shelter and freedom to Israel. He tells “the Egyptians are human, and not God.” Only God can provide freedom and shelter to the people of Israel. So they have to trust in God who can always provide long lasting freedom to the Israelites. So Isaiah insists the people to come back to the freedom which they have forsaken.

In Deuteronomy chapter 6:20-7:6, we find that God is telling the Israelites to remember those days of slavery and bondage. And remember how God delivered them from this slavery of Pharaoh. So from the slavery of Pharaoh, God granted them independence. He destroyed the enemies of Israel. He defeated the strong nations for Israel. So trust only in Him and remember His power. Only God can save us from bondage and slavery. He is Almighty God.

When we reflect upon our own life what message today these readings gives us? It tells us to trust our God who is the true light. We should not sacrifice our life for anything in the world. Sometimes we can see that our world around go to such a practice of worshiping devil and Satanic powers. Sometimes they go for witchcraft and sorcery. They wanted to attain the power and positions in this world. That is why they are doing such a low level acts in front God. They get temporary benefits from that. But we have to know that when we are after these things we are also affected by the blindness. We will not be able to see fully the reality. They cannot ultimately save us from the clutches of sins. But they will take us more and more to the darkness.
Some other times we are also like Zacchaeus after money. We give high amount of money by charging high interest. We may tend to think that money is everything and money can provide us everything in this world, pleasure, joy, happiness, things and position etc. But we have to understand that we are in blindness. Money is perishable thing. It cannot provide freedom to us. Rather it will make us slaves. We will be in bondage of money and its power on us.So dear friends it is our responsibility to evaluate our life. Are we also in bondage? Sometimes our slavery may be in things that we possess, sometimes our bad habits, sometimes it is persons or power or position in the society or places or it may be our attitude to others. So it is up to us to find out what is the cause of our blindness and bondage. And place ourselves to the Light. Then our external and internal blindness will be removed.

Only Jesus Christ can liberate us from all the bondages of blindness. He came to this world in order that we may have life and life in abundance. So we are called not to be the slaves of anybody, but we are called to follow the light and give light to so many. So let us pray in this Holy Eucharist to get the grace of Christ, who is the true light, who illumines us in our darkness, and who liberates us from all bondages, to make us free by showing the light. Amen

By Boby Joseph, Kaiyalakakathu 

Homily for the Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Today in the church we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary. It is a great feast for us, because we are celebrating the feast of our Heavenly Mother Marry. So we are so much glad and jubilant. When we think about the assumption of Mary, it is good to know the history behind the feast of the assumption. This feast was first celebrated in the Syriac church. They started to celebrate it in the 5^th century. This feast is known under different names: dormition (falling asleep), sunoyo and transitus. The Syriac word sunoyo means transference, meaning Mary has been taken up to heaven. According to their believe Mary was the dwelling place of the Most High and in her personal commitment she received the word of God with faith and kept it. After her death and burial she was taken up to heaven by the Heavenly Father.

They also believed that the Immaculate Virgin Mary kept her purity throughout her earthy life. And she was free from all stain of original sin. So when Mary had completed her mission on earth, she was taken into the Heaven by the Angels. And she was exalted by God the Father as Queen over all things. So in 1950, 1^st November, Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary to Heaven as an article of faith. Even though Mary is in heaven, in the company of her son Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and in the communion of Angels and the Heavenly Hosts, she is very much concerned with her sons and daughters on earth.

But when we come to the Bible, there is no explicit reference to this believe. But in the Bible we see that after the Ascension of the Lord, Mary was with the apostles to strengthen them. It was when she was praying with them in the room upstairs on the day of the Pentecost, that they were anointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). Thus the Holy Mother was a witness to the first Pentecost experience (Acts 2:1-4).

So we can clearly say, Mary was the cause of blessing to the whole people on earth. And this blessing made her the Queen of Heaven. She was made the Queen of the heaven because of her total dedication to the will of God. This dedication made her blessed. In the Gospel of John, Mary has been presented as the ‘New Eve’ that she fully cooperated with the salvific mission of Jesus. The first woman of the Old Testament committed sin. So the first couple and the serpent were punished by God. But God had given Adam and Eve the hope of salvation. In the words of God to the serpent, this is evident, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen 3:15). There is an indication of a ‘woman’ here who will give birth to the one who will strike the serpent’s head. It is Lord Jesus who will strike the head of the serpent. So the mother of Jesus is the promised ‘woman’. By sinning, Eve, the first woman, gave birth to the children of sin. Since the second Eve was free from the Original Sin and all other sins, she became the mother of all who are in divine grace, cooperating with Jesus. So she became a blessing like Abraham, who was a blessing to the nation. She became blessing to God the Father, the Son, the Apostles and to the humanity as a whole.

First of all she was a blessing to God the Father. Mary could very well cooperate with the God the Father in His salvation plan. God the Father specially prepared her for giving birth to His Son, Jesus. She fully dedicated to His plan by accepting and surrendering to the message of the Angel. In the magnificat she extols God for having chosen her to be the Savior’s mother. In magnificat Mary praises God, for making her a part in the salvation plan of God. For, she knew that the birth of Jesus is the final stage of Salvation History. In other words Mary realizes her call to take part in the service of Love of God. Thus she became a blessing to God the Father.

Secondly she became a blessing to Jesus. How she became a blessing to Jesus? We know that apostles came to the life of Jesus only at the age of thirty, at public life. Mary was with Jesus from the moment of birth and to death. She was present with him at Cana to start his mission and she stood with him at Calvary under the cross to conclude his mission. So we can say that Mary played a crucial role in the birth, growth and later the salvific mission of Jesus. Mary, as she was standing before the cross suffering inexplicable pain and insult, exhibited greater courage than any martyr in history.  So she became a blessing to Jesus.

Thirdly, she became a blessing to the Apostles. It was Mary who prepared the Apostles to receive the Holy Spirit. She prepared them for their mission in the absence of Jesus. When the Apostles received the Holy Spirit she was present there enlightening them and firming them in their faith. Thus she became a blessing to Apostles.

Fourthly, she became a blessing to the Church. She is always with the church in the formation and growth of the church. It is she brought Holy Spirit to the Church on the day of Pentecost. She is still a blessing to the Christians who are belonging to the Church. Her numerous apparitions are signs that she still cares about the Christians. Lourdes, Maggorie, Fatima, Veilankanni, etc. She will be a blessing to generations. People flock to her places of apparitions for favors and blessings

Dear friends Mary through her life gives us a great model and she is the message for us today. She, through her life gave us a great message. That is become blessing to the community through our life on earth. Yes, dear friends that is the message Mother Mary gives us to be a blessing for our fellow brothers and sisters.

Let us think about ourselves sometime. Are we a blessing to our community in which we live? Or are we a curse to our community and the society we live? When we are present in the society are they enjoy our presence? Do we have real trust and dedication to our call? But sometimes our presence in the community makes others unhappy, because our certain deeds. We don’t really care for them, because we are selfish. We act in our own way. We don’t wait for the God’s will to be done in our life. So we will not be able to participate in the saving act of God.

So dear friends, as we celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, let us commit ourselves to the service of Love, as our Mother did. Let us also try to become blessings to our friends, neighbors, co-worker etc. As she played a significant role in the plan of Salvation let us also totally dedicate ourselves for the will of our Lord. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians: In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. Amen

By

Boby Joseph MST

Sunday Homily for Seventh Sunday of Kaitha: Lev. 19:15-19 Is. 30:1-15 1 Thes. 2:14-20 Lk. 18:1-8

Lev. 19:15-19

Is. 30:1-15

1 Thes. 2:14-20

Lk. 18:1-8

Today church gives us the message that “Don’t trust in man and his codes of judgments, but trust only in the judgment of Almighty God, who alone is our loving Father.” We are in the seventh Sunday of Kaitha. Kaitha also exhorts us to trust in loving God, who is the trust worthy Judge of this world and who judges us with heavenly principles. Only God is the real and trustworthy judge. He alone can satisfy us with righteousness. So we need complete dependence in Him.

In Leviticus chapter 19: 15-19, we see that God’s commandments to the Israelites. In this we see that God tells them “You shall not render an unjust judgment.” (19: 15). In philosophy we study that man is an imperfect, contingent, limited being. So as a deficient and contingent being he cannot judge selflessly. So his actions, words, thinking everything will be defective in this sense. That is why God instruct the people of Israel that “you should not make false judgments.” Then what they have to do? “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (19:18) God knows that a narrow minded person cannot love others more than he loves himself. Only God can love the man more than Himself. That is why he gives this golden rule to be followed. If we follow this rule in our life we will not show partiality to the poor, will not slander among the people, will not try to profit by the blood of the people and will not hate anyone.

When we come to the book of Isaiah chapter 30:1-15, we see Isaiah’s oracle against Egypt. Here the prophet blames the people, who go against the plan of God and trust the Egyptians. They experienced the unconditional love of Yahweh in exodus. He made everything for the good of Israelites, but now they are going against His plan and make alliance against His will. In this prophets warns the people, who goes contrary to the will of God, that Pharaoh cannot protect them. He cannot provide eternal shelter to the Israelites, because Egyptians are simple human being and they can offer only limited protection and shelter. The protection and shelter given by Pharaoh will bring them shame and disgrace. So what they have to do? They have to return to the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel. So prophet conveys them that “in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”(Is. 30:15)

And in the 1^st letter to Thessalonians chapter 2: 14-20, Paul is telling to the Thessalonians that share in the suffering of Jesus. He conveys them to be genuine in the sufferings. Because in Thessalonian church there were much oppositions and persecutions.  But Paul tells them that in these difficulties and oppositions they have to trust in Jesus. Jesus showed us the real path of God’s love. He loved us more than that he loved himself. That is why he gave his own life for our salvation. Paul also knew that this oppositions and sufferings are limited, but what is ultimate is God’s love and His judgments. So when he comes for the second coming our suffering in his name will be our justification. That is why Paul asks us “for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus Christ at his second coming.” (Thes. 2:19) It is nothing, but our suffering in the name of Jesus Christ.

When we approach the Gospel with same feeling, we can see that in Luke, chapter 18:1-8, clearly expresses that God is the only trustworthy Judge, through a parable of widow and the unjust judge. Who is a Judge? Judge is the one who judges justly. But in this parable we can see the contradiction. It is written that unjust judge. How can a man who is unjust can become a judge? And again it is said that he had no fear of God and Man. In our ordinary language we can call him “GUNDDA” not judge. And when we see the characteristics of this judge we can understand him, he was selfish, unjust, not respecting others and no fear of God too. But he thinks in certain situation “I will grant her justice”. Why does such a hard hearted person think that I will do justice?  Only because that widow always disturbed him. She was constantly asking to grant justice to him. Even though he was unjust, selfish, not trusting God, she pleaded for justice. That disturbed him and he decided to grant her justice. Because of her trust in him she could change the hard hearted Gundda. That was her trust. She pleaded for justice constantly. Here Jesus is tells us, even this poor widow trusted an unjust judge. She trusted this simple, imperfect, contingent man. Do you trust your Lord, your God, who can give you everything? Do you believe in me, who can judge you for heaven and for the hell? Gospel tells us that God grants justice to his chosen ones, so trust in him trust only in Him. So don’t believe in human standards and judgments. Trust only God.

Let us think about ourselves, do we really trust in God’s judgments? When problems comes to our life, what are we doing? Going and trusting the human persons or trusting and praying to the Lord Almighty. In our family if there are some tensions do we pray to God or call human mediators for solving the issues? When personal disasters unexpectedly come to our life, do we wait for the judgment of God or direct our life to drunkenness. When we are in need of money, do we really pray to God or go for smuggling? In these situations God tells us “don’t trust in human judgments, but trust in me your God Almighty.”

It is time for us to change. Let us closely observe our life. Do we really trust and pray to God? Do we really trust the loving Father? Otherwise we have to keep in mind that the simple human beings cannot help us. Only the Almighty can help us. We should not be like Israelites. We should be like Thessalonians. In persecutions and oppositions let us wait for the second coming of Christ. Let us trust him fully. Let God grant us this grace. May God bless you. Amen.

Diwali Festival - With a Christian Outlook: A Homily for Diwali

The numerous lamps on the house tops and the lightening of the crackers remind us the joy of celebrating Diwali – The festival of lights. While millions of homes all over the country are illuminated, we rejoice with all the people of our land, and we have to come the altar bringing our own little lamp – the lamp each one of us has carried is our own heart which burns with the oil of love and whose flame is faith. As we share the Eucharist our hearts will burn so that the warmth and the brightness of our faith and love will become manifest to one another. On this joyous moment let us invoke the Lord to kindle in us the fire of His love to celebrate the feast with radiating joy. The gospel passages related to this celebration are 1Jn. 1: 5 -10, Jn. 8: 12-20. In all these passages we find that Jesus Christ is the Light of Whole world and the redeemer of all.

Of all Hindu festivals, Diwali may be said to be the most widely celebrated. ‘Diwali’- meaning row or cluster of lights- the festival is so called because of the illuminations that form its main attraction. With the usual illuminations go crackers and fireworks dear to children for whom Diwali is perhaps the gayest festival. This also is known as Diwali  The origin of the festival is not definitively known. But the festival has gathered round it, in its progress down the centuries, a number of legends concerning its origin has an absorbed memories of many events of national importance. As a result, all sections of Hindus find something in the festival which enables them to take part in the celebrations. The Vaishnavites for examples attributed the origin of Divali to the coronation of Rama, as the king of Ayodhya. It is said that during the night of the coronation, there was illumination all over the country. According to another legend, Divali marks the coronation of king Vikarmditya who has inspired many an ancient tale. In certain parts of India, the origin of Diwali is attributed to the destruction by Vishnu of a demon named Naraka, who delighted in filth. The demon of filth is possibly the south-west monsoon that deluged in the past a good part of the country and Diwali that comes in the autumn at the end of monsoon was perhaps celebrated to express the joyous relief from the tyranny of the deluge and for the mercantile communities, particularly in western India, Diwali  is doubly important as marking the new year, beginning with the month of Kartik. Whatever might be the authentic origin of Divali, both the legends and the modern developments of the festival have an underlying theme: Divali is a rejoicing over the Victory (coronation) of God (Rama) or the good king (Vikramaditya); it is a rejoicing over the defeat of a filthy hero like Ravana or Naraka. The inner significance of the ideological content of the celebrations is therefore that the true and the good overcome the untrue and the ungodly; to put it in common parlance, the conviction that the good triumphs over the evil. Such a belief is symbolized in the illuminations of the festival; i.e., people see in the lights that dispel darkness the sure and ultimate victory of Truth. Hence light in India stands for Jiiana – true knowledge. The national Motto: “SatyamevaJayate” – expresses forcefully the symbolic content of Diwali Festival. Also the aspirations characterizing the celebrations are well summed up in the beautiful invocation as often recited from Brihadharanyaka: ‘Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality’. In the context of the festival of lights, the Scripture Readings fill us with deeper insights into the symbolism of light. In the first reading we hear ‘God is light’ (1Jn 1:5) indeed in all religious traditions God is invoked and worshiped as light. For, God is light not only because He is the source of light, but the whole world is illumined with His own light. "There is light that shines beyond all things on earth" "This is the light that shines in our hearts" (Ch. Up. 3,13.7). Again, "He is the radiant light of lights" (Mund. 2.2.91. And so we must say that 'in His light we see light'. How beautifully do our Tamil people call God as 'Svayam Jyoti', 'Param Jyoti', 'Arul Perum Jyoti'. The sun and the moon are considered as the eyes of God in Indian literature. In Gita, when Krishna manifests himself, He is described as: "If there is the effulgence of a thousand suns bursting forth all at once in the heavens even that would hardly approach the splendor of the mighty God" (Gita II. 12).

           The Gospel proclaims that the Light of lights has appeared and manifested itself in the human flesh of Jesus. At his birth did not the glory of the Lord shine forth as the angel brought the good news to the shepherds? Did not the old Simeon sing: 'A Light to the Gentiles'? Jesus Himself testified to the people: 'I am the light of the world'. True, in the presence of him who was light, the darkness of evil spirits was dispelled; the untruth and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees were exposed: and the tyranny of sickness and death was overcome. During the transfiguration, the disciples saw the glory of His light. "His face shone, His clothes were brilliant as light" (Mt. 12:2). Yes, the light that shone on the face of Christ is that "of the glory of God Himself” (2 Cor. 4:5). The Risen Lord appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus as dazzling light. He is the light who enlightens every man coming into the world (Jn. 1:8). And, according to His promise, whoever follows him does not walk in darkness, but has the light of life. In John's perspective, the mystery of Jesus Christ could be summed up thus: 'The light shines in the lamp (Rev. 21:23). Now, Christ who proclaimed Himself as the light of the world has also told us, 'you are the light of the world'. For, as St. Peter says, 'He has called us from darkness to His marvelous light'(1 Pet.2:9). He has transferred us to His Kingdom to share the destiny of the saints in the light. And so does St. Paul exhort; live as sons of light, (Eph. 5:8): put on the armor of light and put away the deeds of darkness (Rom. 13:12); while urging us to 'walk in light' John gives fraternal love as the criterion for judging whether a man is in darkness or in light (Jn. 1 :5). Surely the man who lives as the true son of light shines before men. The imperative of the Gospel is therefore; Let your light shine, so that men may glorify God. The glow of the Scriptures, the symbolism of light, on Diwali day, touches us with a burning message. The lamps of Diwali assure us that He darkness of completion, casteism, black money, smuggling, evil practices, will be surely overcome by true dedication and service in the country: Diwali lights illumining the homes of India infuse us with the hope that the forces of darkness will be overthrown. But, who will achieve this victory and how will it be realized? Each one of us is little lamp God has placed to illumine our beautiful country. Our task is not to curse the darkness, but to light the lamp of our life with truth and love. Let us, then, sing with Tagore: "In the dance of your festival of lights, my heart will throb and my life will be one with your smile". 0 Lord! Who illumines every man that comes into the world, as we rejoice today in the festival of lights, may our hearts be inflamed with the fire of your divine Word so that we become worthy to enter into the celebration of the Eucharist that heralds to us the feast of eternal Diwali to come. Accept, 0 Lord, the gifts we place symbolizing ourselves and our country. May all who celebrate the festival of lights be purified by the light of the gospel and transformed by the grace of this Paschal Mystery. As we participate in the banquet of life and love, 0' Lord, may we realize its power in us and spread its radiance to all the people of our land by our humble service. May the lamps of this year light up the path of sincerity and truth. Let the burning lamps fill our homes and our country with the brightness of peace and harmony, so that the lamps of next year may shine on a holier and happier people!

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Republic Day Message

Today India celebrates the 63rd  republic day. Although India gained freedom on 15^th of August 1947, India was still under the rule of King George 6^th and two governor generals Lord Mount Batten and Balagopalacharya. On 26^th of January 1950, India was declared a republic country with its own constitution, an elected president as the head of the state and a prime minister with a cabinet to govern the country. Thus India became the world’s largest democracy having the longest written constitution. As all of us know, Dr Rajendra Prasad was the 1^st president of India and today India is proud of having a woman as the first person of the country.

Republic day is the time to remember with gratitude all those who toiled to restore freedom to India. We are obliged to Dr Ambedhakar and his colleagues, who in spite of the pressure from the socialist parties to form a monarchical government with common ownership of land, formulated a constitution that paved way to a fully democratic system in which the administration lies at the hands of the people.

Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru articulated a new vision for India that the term republic meant not only political freedom but also social and economic freedom. It is under the spacious provision of our constitution that our country achieved an unprecedented unity and cohesion and made remarkable progress in the socio-economic fields. Today India is adjudged as one of the fastest growing economies of the world. We have accommodated globalization without affecting our identity. Through green revolution we have achieved self- sufficiency in food grains. In the fields of information technology and bio-technology we have made spectacular strides. We have raised the life expectancy rate of our people from 21 years at the time of independence to 61 years today. At the dawn of 21^st century, India is a youth country with two third of its population as young people. At the heart out democracy, is the right to universal adult suffrage allowing every adult of the country the right to vote. Latest of the developments is the right to information act that makes democracy sweeter to people.

There were attempts to rewrite the constitution of India, there were regionalist movements, fundamentalist movements, communal clashes etc still India remains sovereign, social, secular, democratic, and republic.

As we have a lot to boast about our country, we have a lot to be ashamed of when we really comprehend the fresh realities of the country. After these many years of attempt, could we settle the decades long Kashmir issue? Are we secure in our country with belligerent Pakistan and China at our border? Can the government extinguish the fire when poverty has embodied itself into Naxalism? Do we need to maintain a hope for tomorrow when terrorism wishes good morning at our doorstep from Headly to Ajmer and from Nazer to Aseemanji? Haven’t we become foreigners in our own country when states like Andhra Pradesh fight for regionalism? What is the plight of the poor people when their own representatives shut the doors of democracy to them? What a pity when even the media persons are involved in the scams and political irregularities? The longest written constitution will not remain sound if there is no proper enforcement from the part of the government and a sincere co operation from the part of the people.

As we celebrate the republic day, what is the message for us Christians? We the Catholics, though a minority have a significant role to play. Even if we cannot solve the big issues, we can work at the liberation of the poor people. We can become a hope to the hopeless. Today the church is reminded of the pastoral constitution on the modern Church: Gaudium et spes No: 4, “The Church carries the responsibility of reading the signs of the time and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel”. Yes dear friends, let us pledge that we would work at bringing democracy to every nook and corner of India. Let us repeat in our minds that all Indians are my brothers and sisters and I love my country.

Sunday Homily for Sixth Sunday of Kaitha: Luke: 7:11-19

In the sixth Sunday of Kaitha God gives us the message that “be thankful to the one, who perfects you.” Today church also tell us to be grateful to the Lord our God who alone makes us holy and perfect. We are all called to be perfect and holy as our Heavenly Father.
In the first reading, we see God asks Moses to be perfect and holy as He is holy. In Leviticus chapter nineteen verse two, God speaks to Moses, “you shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” In this passage we also see the Ten Commandments given by God. God asks all the Israelites to follow these commandments in their daily life to be holy. God wants his people to obey their parents, keep the Sabbath. He also prohibits all kinds of idol worships, stealing, lying etc. In order to be holy the Israelites observed all these commandments absolutely. So they became holy nation and holy people before God.
Today in the gospel of St. Luke chapter seventeen verses eleven to nineteen we see Jesus cleanses the ten lepers. Why is it written that Jesus cleanses the ten lepers? It is not written that Jesus curing the ten lepers. It has an Old Testament history.in the Old Testament we see that Leprosy was not a disease but a problem of impurity. They believed that the people who had this Leprosy had done something wrong against God our Lord. That is the reason they have Leprosy. They were also not allowed to live with normal people. They had to wear sack clothes and live far away from the community. Whenever they go out they have to shouting very loudly that “they are impure”. That is why when Jesus came through that gentile region they were shouting “”Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus then tells them to show them to the priest. That was also another custom that whenever they have made clean they have to show themselves to the priests for verifying that weather they have made clean. That was the practice. That is why Jesus is telling them to show themselves to the priest. In this way Jesus made them clean.
But we see a pitiful thing in this passage that among these ten lepers only one came back to Jesus and expressed his gratefulness to Jesus. And he too was a Samaritan. All other nine were Jews.  Samaritans are gentile people. They were considered as unholy and impure people according to Jews. They were considered as Dogs. There was usually no Jew had the contact with Samaritans. But in this incident we see a person who is a gentile comes to Jesus and thanks him. Because he understood that only God can make him pure, so Jesus is God. So he expressed his thanks to Jesus who is Lord and God.
From this pericope we get the message is this only god can make us holy and perfect, because he alone is holy and perfect. So we have to be thankful to Him. But the nine other Jews could not understand who Jesus was. So they did not come back to thank Jesus. They considered him as a magician who does lots of miracles. So they did not find it necessary to came back to thank Jesus.
In the book of Isaiah chapter twenty nine verses nineteen we here the Prophet tells “the meek shall obtain joy in the Lord” and “the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.” It is true in our case too when we become humble we understand that it is God’s grace and he is behind everything, our success, failures, joy, sadness etc. Otherwise we will be saying proudly that it is because my merit and my ability. Then we will not thank the Lord. So those who humble themselves and submit themselves to the Lord will come back to lord for thanking him as the Samaritan.
In the third reading, the first letter to Thessalonians chapter two verses one to twelve Paul tells us that he had courage in our God to declare the gospel to the people in spite of great opposition. Because he is fully dedicated his work to the power of God. He knows that God is the one who gives him the strength in our difficulties. Paul tells us that God through our difficulties makes us perfect and holy. So in this letter he thank the lord for his success in the mission work. Here Paul shows us a model to be followed. Believe in the Lord and thank Him because he can make us perfect and holy in all the situations.
So dear friends let us think about ourselves. God gives us so much graces in daily life. He gives us good family, good job, nice home, loving children. Each moment he is giving so much of graces. But are we thanking him? Or are we like the other nine lepers. Or are we like the Samaritan?
And as St. Paul tell he makes us perfect our difficulties. He may give us diseases, pains etc. in our life. But we have to understand that he makes us clean through these difficulties. And God will not abandon us that is sure.
So dear friends let us thank in each moments of our life. God is great and he alone is perfect. So thank the Lord who makes us perfect. In this Holy Eucharist let us pray for this grace and let us thank the lord in this Eucharist. May God bless us? Amen