First Reading: REV 7: 2-4, 9-14,: 1 JN 3: 1-3,Gosple: MT 5: 1-12
A pumpkin story: "What is it like to be a Christian saint?" "It is like being a Halloween pumpkin. God picks you from the field, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you. Then he cuts off the top and scoops out the yucky stuff. He removes the pulp of impurity and injustice and seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light of holiness inside you to shine for the entire world to see." This is the Christian idea behind the carved pumpkins during the Halloween season.”
Historical note: A common commemoration of the saints, especially the martyrs, appeared in various areas throughout the Church after the legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire in A.D. 313. The primary reason for establishing a common feast day was the desire to honor the great number of Christians martyred during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). In the East, the city of Edessa celebrated this feast on May 13; the Syrians, on the Friday after Easter; and the city of Antioch, on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Both St. Ephraim (d. 373) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) attest to this feast day in their preaching. In the West, a commemoration for all the saints also was observed on the first Sunday after Pentecost. St. Bede (d. 735) recorded the celebration of All Saints Day on Nov. 1 in England, and such a celebration also existed in Salzburg, Austria. It was Pope Gregory IV who in 835 ordered the Feast of All Saints to be observed universally on Nov. 1.
The feast and its objectives: All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered saints. All Saints Day is a day on which we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and heavenly glory as a reward for their faith. In fact, we celebrate the feast of each canonized saint on a particular day of the year. But there are countless other saints and martyrs, men, women and children united with God in the heavenly glory, whose feasts we do not celebrate. Among these would be our own parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters who were heroic women and men of faith. All Saints' Day is intended to honor their memory. Hence today's feast can be called the feast of the Unknown Saint, in line with the tradition of the “Unknown Soldier.” According to Pope Urban IV, All Saints' Day is also intended to supply any deficiencies in our celebration of feasts of saints during the year. In addition, the feast is observed to teach us to honor the saints, both by imitating their lives and by seeking their intercession for us before Christ, the only mediator between God and man (I Tim. 2/5). Today the Church reminds us that God's call for holiness is universal, that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We show holiness when we live lives of integrity and truth, that is, wholesome and integrated lives in which we are close to others while being close to God.
For Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and to some extent, the Anglicans, “All Saints’ Day” is a day, not only to remember the saints and to thank God for them, but also to pray for their help. In addition, it is a day to glorify Jesus Christ, who by his holy life and death has made the saints holy. This feast offers a challenge to each one of us: anybody can become a saint, regardless of his or her age, lifestyle or living conditions. St. Augustine accepted this challenge when he asked the question: "If others can become saints, why can't I?" (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?).
Life Messages
On the feast of All Saints the church invites us and challenges us to walk the walk of the saints and not just talk the talk: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the saints and the imitation of their lifestyle enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joys of your master" (Matthew 25:21). Today is also a day for us to pray to the saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October,25th.
JER 31:7-9; HEB 5: 1-6; MARK 10:46-52 (OCT 25th)
The central theme of today’s readings is the overflowing mercy and kindness of a loving and forgiving God to His people. Today’s gospel explains how Jesus shows the same mercy and compassion of his heavenly Father by healing Bartimaeus a blind man. Just as the blind and the lame were God’s concern in the first reading, Jesus is concerned with the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. On hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, Bartimaeus loudly expressed his trusting faith in the healing power of Jesus. As Jesus passes by Bartimaeus quickly grabbed the opportunity for healing. He was not discouraged by the hostile attitude of the crowd shouting him down.
Some years ago in a small village in the Midwest, a little twelve-year old girl named Terri was babysitting her little brother. Terri walked outside to check the mail. As she turned back from the mailbox, she couldn't believe her eyes. The house was on fire. So very quickly the little house was enveloped in flames. Terri ran as fast as she could into the flaming house only to find her baby brother trapped by a burning rafter which had fallen and pinned him to the floor. Hurriedly, Terri worked to free her brother. She had trouble getting him loose as the flames were dancing around their heads. Finally, she freed him. She picked him up and quickly took him outside and revived him just as the roof of the house caved in.
By this time, firemen were on the scene and the neighbors had gathered outside the smoldering remains of the house. The neighbors had been too frightened to go inside or to do anything to help, and they were tremendously impressed with the courage of the twelve-year old girl. They congratulated her for her heroic efforts and said, "Terri, you are so very brave. Weren't you scared? What were you thinking about when you ran into the burning house?" . She said, "I wasn't thinking about anything. I just heard my little brother crying."
Bartimaeus had just one opportunity to meet Christ, just one, and he took advantage of it. He jumped at the opportunity, disregarding the crowd’s objection. He had only one thing in mind, not to let this opportunity pass by him. William Barclay once said there are three things which cannot come back: the spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity. Bartimaeus could not know what lay just ahead for Jesus in Jerusalem. He could not know that the Master would be crucified there and that this opportunity would never come again. He did know, however, that the opportunity was here, now, and he wasn't going to allow it to pass him by. How do we use our opportunities to meet Jesus one on one ? Are we waiting for a better chance to show up ?
This is the last healing miracle in Mark's Gospel. This is about the only place in the Synoptic Gospels where the name of a person who was healed by Jesus is given.
Bartimaeus stands before us as a man of faith. His call to discipleship comes through healing. Only when we can see and accept our weaknesses can we allow Christ to come and serve us. On the road all the way to Jericho, as Jesus talked of the suffering and death which awaited him in Jerusalem, the disciples could not understand it. The disciples’ spiritual "blindness" is evident in their persistent misunderstanding in the preceding accounts.
Bartimaeus gave Jesus a raucous yell. His eyes were dead but God had gifted him with a first class set of lungs. Though all else lose their cool with the blind man's shouting, Jesus does not. He had every reason to. Mark is telling us if we want to get something from the Teacher, we must keep after Him. We must even pester Him. We must not abandon our quest by saying, "God's busy; He's got the whole wide world in His hands!" Some one said "You won't get an answer at God's door if you aren't knocking."
Bartimaeus becomes the first person of record from whom the Master accepted an acknowledgment of His Messiahship. This is the reason Mark names this important man. Bartimaeus shouts, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me." That was clearly a Messianic title. Bartimaeus, though blind, could see. His instincts were sharper than a fresh razor blade. The divinity of Jesus had come across to him in waves. But those about him, who enjoyed good vision, were blind to the Son of Man. The blind and deaf Helen Keller said, "The most beautiful things in the world can't be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
When Jesus calls to Bartimaeus, he throws away his cloak, leaps up and goes to him, which is odd because blind people do not throw their things about. They need to remember where their things are, so that they can find them again. They don't leap up and go to someone in a crowd. They feel their way bit by bit. It is as if Bartimaeus has no longer any need for a cloak. It is as if Bartimaeus could see already. In throwing away his cloak, he gave up everything he had depended on, putting his complete trust in the Lord.
When Jesus asked: “What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus replied promptly: “Master, I want to see.” The problem with many of us is that we donot know what we really want. What would make us really happy. If Jesus asks us today “ what is the only one thing that you would ask me to do for you , what would be our answer ?
Thousands of years ago a young Chinese emperor called upon his family's most trusted advisor. "Oh, learned counselor," said the emperor, "you have advised my father and grandfather. What is the single most important advice you can give me to rule my country?" And Confucius replied, "The first thing you must do is to define the problem."
Many unhappy people cannot put their finger on what is really causing their distress. Many unfulfilled people cannot even tell us what it would take to satisfy them. Many of us have no clear idea or conception what our real needs, our real desires, and our real priorities are. And because we have never defined the problem or clarified our goals, we spend a lifetime anxiously wandering with very little to show for the pilgrimage.
Applications: We need to have the courage of our convictions. We need people who, like Bartimaeus, will refuse to be silenced by the secular leaders of our society. We must make our politicians realize that our country is rejecting Christian principles and facing a loss of values.
Each one of us suffers from spiritual blindness, and hence we need the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us. Hence, let us pray to have a clear vision of Christian values and priorities in our lives and to acknowledge the presence of God dwelling in ourselves and in our neighbors. Remember the miserable people are not those who are blind but rather those who refuse to see.
One would say seeing is believing but for Bartimaeus believing was seeing. Let us not be among the many who, though not blind, still refuse to see. Let’s not miss any chance coming in our way to welcome Jesus in our lives
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus, remove from me the darkness of sin and unbelief and give me eyes of faith to recognize the truth of your word and your saving presence in my life."
The central theme of today’s readings is the overflowing mercy and kindness of a loving and forgiving God to His people. Today’s gospel explains how Jesus shows the same mercy and compassion of his heavenly Father by healing Bartimaeus a blind man. Just as the blind and the lame were God’s concern in the first reading, Jesus is concerned with the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. On hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, Bartimaeus loudly expressed his trusting faith in the healing power of Jesus. As Jesus passes by Bartimaeus quickly grabbed the opportunity for healing. He was not discouraged by the hostile attitude of the crowd shouting him down.
Some years ago in a small village in the Midwest, a little twelve-year old girl named Terri was babysitting her little brother. Terri walked outside to check the mail. As she turned back from the mailbox, she couldn't believe her eyes. The house was on fire. So very quickly the little house was enveloped in flames. Terri ran as fast as she could into the flaming house only to find her baby brother trapped by a burning rafter which had fallen and pinned him to the floor. Hurriedly, Terri worked to free her brother. She had trouble getting him loose as the flames were dancing around their heads. Finally, she freed him. She picked him up and quickly took him outside and revived him just as the roof of the house caved in.
By this time, firemen were on the scene and the neighbors had gathered outside the smoldering remains of the house. The neighbors had been too frightened to go inside or to do anything to help, and they were tremendously impressed with the courage of the twelve-year old girl. They congratulated her for her heroic efforts and said, "Terri, you are so very brave. Weren't you scared? What were you thinking about when you ran into the burning house?" . She said, "I wasn't thinking about anything. I just heard my little brother crying."
Bartimaeus had just one opportunity to meet Christ, just one, and he took advantage of it. He jumped at the opportunity, disregarding the crowd’s objection. He had only one thing in mind, not to let this opportunity pass by him. William Barclay once said there are three things which cannot come back: the spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity. Bartimaeus could not know what lay just ahead for Jesus in Jerusalem. He could not know that the Master would be crucified there and that this opportunity would never come again. He did know, however, that the opportunity was here, now, and he wasn't going to allow it to pass him by. How do we use our opportunities to meet Jesus one on one ? Are we waiting for a better chance to show up ?
This is the last healing miracle in Mark's Gospel. This is about the only place in the Synoptic Gospels where the name of a person who was healed by Jesus is given.
Bartimaeus stands before us as a man of faith. His call to discipleship comes through healing. Only when we can see and accept our weaknesses can we allow Christ to come and serve us. On the road all the way to Jericho, as Jesus talked of the suffering and death which awaited him in Jerusalem, the disciples could not understand it. The disciples’ spiritual "blindness" is evident in their persistent misunderstanding in the preceding accounts.
Bartimaeus gave Jesus a raucous yell. His eyes were dead but God had gifted him with a first class set of lungs. Though all else lose their cool with the blind man's shouting, Jesus does not. He had every reason to. Mark is telling us if we want to get something from the Teacher, we must keep after Him. We must even pester Him. We must not abandon our quest by saying, "God's busy; He's got the whole wide world in His hands!" Some one said "You won't get an answer at God's door if you aren't knocking."
Bartimaeus becomes the first person of record from whom the Master accepted an acknowledgment of His Messiahship. This is the reason Mark names this important man. Bartimaeus shouts, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me." That was clearly a Messianic title. Bartimaeus, though blind, could see. His instincts were sharper than a fresh razor blade. The divinity of Jesus had come across to him in waves. But those about him, who enjoyed good vision, were blind to the Son of Man. The blind and deaf Helen Keller said, "The most beautiful things in the world can't be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
When Jesus calls to Bartimaeus, he throws away his cloak, leaps up and goes to him, which is odd because blind people do not throw their things about. They need to remember where their things are, so that they can find them again. They don't leap up and go to someone in a crowd. They feel their way bit by bit. It is as if Bartimaeus has no longer any need for a cloak. It is as if Bartimaeus could see already. In throwing away his cloak, he gave up everything he had depended on, putting his complete trust in the Lord.
When Jesus asked: “What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus replied promptly: “Master, I want to see.” The problem with many of us is that we donot know what we really want. What would make us really happy. If Jesus asks us today “ what is the only one thing that you would ask me to do for you , what would be our answer ?
Thousands of years ago a young Chinese emperor called upon his family's most trusted advisor. "Oh, learned counselor," said the emperor, "you have advised my father and grandfather. What is the single most important advice you can give me to rule my country?" And Confucius replied, "The first thing you must do is to define the problem."
Many unhappy people cannot put their finger on what is really causing their distress. Many unfulfilled people cannot even tell us what it would take to satisfy them. Many of us have no clear idea or conception what our real needs, our real desires, and our real priorities are. And because we have never defined the problem or clarified our goals, we spend a lifetime anxiously wandering with very little to show for the pilgrimage.
Applications: We need to have the courage of our convictions. We need people who, like Bartimaeus, will refuse to be silenced by the secular leaders of our society. We must make our politicians realize that our country is rejecting Christian principles and facing a loss of values.
Each one of us suffers from spiritual blindness, and hence we need the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us. Hence, let us pray to have a clear vision of Christian values and priorities in our lives and to acknowledge the presence of God dwelling in ourselves and in our neighbors. Remember the miserable people are not those who are blind but rather those who refuse to see.
One would say seeing is believing but for Bartimaeus believing was seeing. Let us not be among the many who, though not blind, still refuse to see. Let’s not miss any chance coming in our way to welcome Jesus in our lives
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus, remove from me the darkness of sin and unbelief and give me eyes of faith to recognize the truth of your word and your saving presence in my life."
Friday, October,22, , Weekday Homily.
Friday, Lk.12:54-59
A traveling salesman came upon a farmer sitting on the porch of a rundown house. He introduced himself and began his pitch, saying, "I have a fabulous, new book that explains a new way to farm that is ten times better than you're doing now. After a long pause, the farmer said, "Young fella! I know how to farm ten times better than I'm doing. My problem is doing it.'' Paul says he is not able to do the good he wants to do.
Two words came to the fore when reading the texts of today’s mass: action and failure. As followers of Christ we are committed to action but have to cope with our frequent failure to live our faith.
Most of the time we are somewhat aware of the need to live our commitment to God’s Kingdom in whatever we are doing. However, we also experience that we want to do good, but instead do something bad, that we don’t really intend to do. We want to be supportive of relatives who need a good word but instead waste time and energy with shopping for some trivial items. We want to live “green” but instead avoid carpooling. We want to spend quality time with our partners and children but instead decide to focus on our work. The list of such failures is long. At times we may be tempted to give up the ideals that are part of our faith commitment. Why to bother with wanting to do good if we cannot live up to our ideals! Paul shows us how to deal with our frustrations. He does not give up because he is convinced that God will do something good through him. Despite our failures, God will do something good through us. If things go wrong we should not overly worry; we should not loose our ideals and motivation; we should not give up. We should simply ask God for forgiveness for our failures, apologize to others, and then continue being involved in working for his Kingdom.
Failures are common in our commitment to God’s Kingdom, but we believe that God will nevertheless do something good through us, will forgive us when things go wrong, and guide us in our involvement with his Kingdom. Let’s examine What keeps me from better serving God and my neighbor than I am doing now?
A traveling salesman came upon a farmer sitting on the porch of a rundown house. He introduced himself and began his pitch, saying, "I have a fabulous, new book that explains a new way to farm that is ten times better than you're doing now. After a long pause, the farmer said, "Young fella! I know how to farm ten times better than I'm doing. My problem is doing it.'' Paul says he is not able to do the good he wants to do.
Two words came to the fore when reading the texts of today’s mass: action and failure. As followers of Christ we are committed to action but have to cope with our frequent failure to live our faith.
Most of the time we are somewhat aware of the need to live our commitment to God’s Kingdom in whatever we are doing. However, we also experience that we want to do good, but instead do something bad, that we don’t really intend to do. We want to be supportive of relatives who need a good word but instead waste time and energy with shopping for some trivial items. We want to live “green” but instead avoid carpooling. We want to spend quality time with our partners and children but instead decide to focus on our work. The list of such failures is long. At times we may be tempted to give up the ideals that are part of our faith commitment. Why to bother with wanting to do good if we cannot live up to our ideals! Paul shows us how to deal with our frustrations. He does not give up because he is convinced that God will do something good through him. Despite our failures, God will do something good through us. If things go wrong we should not overly worry; we should not loose our ideals and motivation; we should not give up. We should simply ask God for forgiveness for our failures, apologize to others, and then continue being involved in working for his Kingdom.
Failures are common in our commitment to God’s Kingdom, but we believe that God will nevertheless do something good through us, will forgive us when things go wrong, and guide us in our involvement with his Kingdom. Let’s examine What keeps me from better serving God and my neighbor than I am doing now?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
25th Sunday Oridnary Time.
Tuesday, Lk.11:37-41
Today we hear very often about the need for frequent hand washing as a deterrent to the spread of swine flu. Just as the washing of hands is today viewed as a way to cleanliness and as a deterrent swine flu, so in the days of Jesus the washing of hands was intended to promote cleanliness. The Jewish people knew that the washing of their hands was both important and necessary. Since many of the people spent most of the day outdoors they got their hands dirty. But for the Pharisees the washing of hands also signified ritual purity before God. And it is on the matter of ritual purity that Jesus confronts this Pharisee.
On this occasion Jesus sits down at the dining table without washing his hands. At least he did not wash his hands in the presence of the other diners. He may well have washed shortly before his arrival at the home of the Pharisee. But as this reading makes clear, what amazed the Pharisee was not whether the hands of Jesus were clean or dirty, but rather his failure to observe the ritual washing ceremony. Jesus knew the innermost thoughts of this Pharisee, and he knew the hypocrisy of the man. This man was more concerned with the external ritual than he was with purity of heart and love of God. Jesus likens him to a cup that is clean on the outside but filthy on the inside. The exterior was clean but not the interior. Jesus asks the man how he can purify the outside (the hands) while on the inside (the heart) there is dirt and evil. He then poses the most telling question of all. "Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?" To which the Pharisee has no response.
Man looks to appearances but the Lord sees the heart. External religion is not enough, there should be a heart that is well disposed to love God and to pardon his brother. God certainly isn't telling us that washing our hands is a bad thing. Nor is he telling us that cleanliness is not important. But God is telling us that the purity of our heart is very important. We need to ask ourselves whether we are hypocrites like the Pharisee, concerned mostly with external things. Or whether we are truly concerned about our interior life and the love of God.
Today we hear very often about the need for frequent hand washing as a deterrent to the spread of swine flu. Just as the washing of hands is today viewed as a way to cleanliness and as a deterrent swine flu, so in the days of Jesus the washing of hands was intended to promote cleanliness. The Jewish people knew that the washing of their hands was both important and necessary. Since many of the people spent most of the day outdoors they got their hands dirty. But for the Pharisees the washing of hands also signified ritual purity before God. And it is on the matter of ritual purity that Jesus confronts this Pharisee.
On this occasion Jesus sits down at the dining table without washing his hands. At least he did not wash his hands in the presence of the other diners. He may well have washed shortly before his arrival at the home of the Pharisee. But as this reading makes clear, what amazed the Pharisee was not whether the hands of Jesus were clean or dirty, but rather his failure to observe the ritual washing ceremony. Jesus knew the innermost thoughts of this Pharisee, and he knew the hypocrisy of the man. This man was more concerned with the external ritual than he was with purity of heart and love of God. Jesus likens him to a cup that is clean on the outside but filthy on the inside. The exterior was clean but not the interior. Jesus asks the man how he can purify the outside (the hands) while on the inside (the heart) there is dirt and evil. He then poses the most telling question of all. "Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?" To which the Pharisee has no response.
Man looks to appearances but the Lord sees the heart. External religion is not enough, there should be a heart that is well disposed to love God and to pardon his brother. God certainly isn't telling us that washing our hands is a bad thing. Nor is he telling us that cleanliness is not important. But God is telling us that the purity of our heart is very important. We need to ask ourselves whether we are hypocrites like the Pharisee, concerned mostly with external things. Or whether we are truly concerned about our interior life and the love of God.
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