Lent-3 Ex 3:1-8,13-15; 1 Cor 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9

All three of today's readings speak of God’s mercy and compassion in disciplining his children by occasional punishment and giving them a second chance in spite of their repeated sins.  

In today’s Gospel Jesus quotes two disasters.  The massacre ordered by Pilot and collapse of a tower in Jerusalem. Popular opinion at that time drew a direct line of causality from people's sufferings back to their personal sins. By this logic, the Galileans who were killed by Pilate's soldiers must have deserved it because of some particularly heinous sins.

Scholars are not in agreement about the incident being referred to by Jesus. Many think, however, that it was Pilate's violent suppression of a demonstration in Jerusalem. Demonstrators had gathered in the Temple area to protest Pilate's use of Temple money to construct new aqueducts. Pilate then sent armed soldiers among them in disguise. At a signal, the soldiers dispersed the mob with clubs, killing many more than Pilate had anticipated.

Likewise, those who were killed in the construction accident in Siloam were believed to be paying the penalty for their sins. But Jesus takes a different angle. He does not answer to reasons of their sufferings. But he emphasizes that everyone who refuses to repent will stay separated from God. And if they die in such a state of alienation (and death can come at any time), they will continue in it for all eternity: "If you do not repent, you will all perish."

Jesus reminded his listeners that they would be judged by the opportunities they had. No generation in human history enjoyed so much of comforts and convenience as that of ours. No generation had so much of medical facilities as that of ours. No generation had the opportunity to see and speak to the people living in the other end of the world. No generation was able to traverse continents and oceans in great speed as we do. And no generation had so much of opportunities and chances as that of ours. Hence our responsibility too is greater.

   

The parable of the fig tree imparts the message of a second chance. Usually a fig tree takes 3 years to produce fruit. If it doesn’t produce fruit by that time it is unlikely to produce any fruit. However, the fruit tree was given one more chance. We too are given chances time and again through constant reminders by natural events, word of God, and the prophetic  words and deeds of our brothers and sisters. Every calamity, every tragedy, every natural event has a message for us. It is a sign, a reminder that our time is limited and hence, repent and make ourselves socially useful. Never fail to read the signs of time and accept their message.

Some people have a wrong concept that it is others that need repentance and conversion, not me. That was the attitude of the Pharisees and that is why Jesus came heavily on them.

A young and fearless preacher had a problem with a somewhat worldly parishioner who would remark sarcastically every Sunday as he shook the preacher’s hand at the door, "You got them today preacher!" Sunday after Sunday this fellow never seemed to feel that he needed to repent and always felt that the sermon was for everybody else. Then one Sunday there was a bad snow storm and the preacher and this one fellow were the only ones that could show up. The preacher seized the opportunity and preached his entire three point sermon on, "Hell, Fire, and Damnation." Well, the one congregant again walked out the door and shook the preacher’s hand and said, "If they had been here today preacher, you would have gotten them real good!"

We all need to be reminded of the need and importance of repenting for our sins. And repentance should be total, and complete. We cannot repent for half of our sins. Genuine repentance is total. That is why when we make a confession,if we deliberately hide some grave sins, the whole confession is going to become invalid and false.

One man sent a check to the government for back taxes with a note attached that said: “I felt so guilty for cheating on my taxes that I had to send you this check.  If I don’t feel any better, I’ll send you the rest.”  

 As Catholic Christians, we are blessed with a very clear, concrete way to repent, as often as we need to. In the sacrament of reconciliation, when we live it from the heart, we climb back into the arms of our heavenly Father, hiding nothing, freely admitting our need for him. Confession opens our souls wide to Christ's grace. It gives him room to work in our lives. In confession Jesus purifies our hearts, heals our wounds, and enlightens our minds.

Confession gives us the assurance of God's forgiveness and grace that we need. He wants us to hear his words of forgiveness and encouragement not just in our imagination, but with our ears. We had the reading the parable of the prodigal son for yesterday’s reading for Mass. At the end of the reading the Father tells every one: let’s celebrate this coming back of my son. We need to celebrate the forgiveness of God in our life. We are not to keep it quiet to ourselves.We have our Parish reconciliation service this Tuesday at 7.00 pm. We will have 7 priests hearing confessions so that we won’t have to wait long. It is our celebrating together.

One of the ways the Church encourages us to give repentance its proper place in our life is by making an examination of conscience every night before we go to sleep. Christians have had this habit for centuries. It's a way to make sure that we never let a sin or a habit of selfishness take root in our hearts and obstruct God's plan for our life. A nightly conscience exam is like brushing your teeth. It doesn't take much time, but if you do it every day, it makes a big difference in your health (and in your breath).

Lent is an ideal time "to dig around and manure" the tree of our life so that it may bring forth fruits of repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness and deepened sensitivity to the feelings of others.  We need to make the best use of the "second chance" God gives us.  Our merciful Father always gives us a second chance.  During Lent, we, too, are given another chance to repent and return to our heavenly Father’s love. During this mass, let's ask God to help us give repentance its proper place, so that  he can do wonderful things in us.

Lent II-Transfiguration of Jesus: Gen 15:5-12, 17-18; Phil 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36.

Last Sunday we had the reading: temptation of Jesus and the last temptation was Satan tempting Jesus to jump of the pinnacle of the temple and show his splendor as God’s son. Well, Jesus refused to prove that to Satan. But he did it before his chosen band of disciples on mount Tabor.

In the First Reading, God seals his promise of salvation by making a covenant with Abram. At God's prompting, Abram moved his considerable holdings from the ancient city of Ur in Mesopotamia to a land he knew not. As a reward for Abram’s trust and obedience, God promised him numerous descendants. He also promised Abram a land for himself and his family. When Abram asked for a sign that would seal this promise, God entered into a unilateral contract with him, using an ancient ritual of contract. The parties  who wanted to seal a contract would split the carcass of one or more animals, lay the halves on the ground, and walk between them, saying "May I be so split in half if I fail to keep the agreement we are sealing here." Abram fell into a trance and witnessed the procession of the fire pot and torch moving between the carcass halves. This symbolized God’s presence and action.   As this was a unilateral contract between God and Abraham, Abraham was not asked to walk between the carcass halves. 

(By the way, this incident of God’s covenant with Abraham is reported differently in the Quran- as when Abraham divided the birds and put them in two halves, the two halves came together and the birds flew back to him as a sign of God’s confirmation of his sacrifice being accepted. I am going to have a presentation of what Islam teaches about Biblical figures in their Quran this Monday from 7.00 -9.00 pm. If you like to know more about Islamic religion, just show up Monday). Now back to scripture..

God’s covenant shows that he wants to be close to us, but in fact he was still distant.  This is symbolized by the smoking pot and burning torch that God used to represent his walking through the sacrificial animals.

Jesus’ Transfiguration established his glorious identity as the beloved Son of God, and placed his divine Sonship in the context of Jewish expectations about the kingdom and the resurrection.  

As Christians, followers of Jesus what we all need now is transformation, not transfiguration which we will have at the resurrection. We need to transformation like the pagan Patriarch Abram had, from a worshipper of pagan gods into a worshipper of one true God and living in total obedience to Him.

An old farmer from the countryside who was visiting a big city for the first time with his son, stood speechless before the elevator of a big hotel, watching in wonder, as an old woman got into the elevator and, within minutes, a beautiful young woman came out. He called out to his son who was registering at the reception. “Son, put your mother into that miracle machine immediately. It will transform her into a beautiful young lady.”

Well, we have several of that kind of transforming “machines”. The church we are in is the primary one. After each Holy Mass we are expected to go back transformed and renewed. If we go back the same way, it did us no good.

In each Holy Mass, the bread and wine we offer on the altar become transformed into the living body and blood of the crucified, risen and glorified Jesus.  And when we receive that Jesus worthily we are also supposed to be transformed in our minds and hearts so that we may do more good by humble and selfless service to others.

Each time we receive one of the sacraments, we are transformed: For example, baptism transforms us into sons and daughters of God and heirs of heaven. Confirmation makes us temples of the Holy Spirit and warriors of God.  By the sacrament of reconciliation, God brings back the sinner to the path of holiness.

Spending quiet time before the blessed sacrament is the best way to transform us. Peter, John and James witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus when they were praying. If we need 'mountain-top experiences' as they had in our lives during this lent, find some extra time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. We don’t have enough people to fill in the slots on Tuesdays and first Fridays and Saturdays. When you are before the blessed sacrament you are not representing just yourself, you are representing the whole parish and the needs of the people of the parish before the Eucharistic Lord. And you should feel the feeling of Peter on mount Tabor: Lord, it is good to be here, let me stay here for ever. And you should listen to the Father’s voice as Peter and others heard, this is my beloved son, listen to Him. Actually, this is the message the Father tells us all the time: Listen to him. This is the same message Mary also had to tell at the miracle at Cana. She told the waiters, listen to him and do what he tells you. During this lent, let’s ask ourselves, do we fine time to listen to Jesus?

In this Mass, Jesus will come to be close to us again, to bridge the distance between us and God, just as he did with Peter, James, and John on the mountaintop. Let's listen to him, and promise to keep on listening, every day.

LENT 1 [C]: DEUT: 26: 4-10, ROM. 10:8-13, LK. 4: 1-13

You may have encountered people who say there are no Satan and hell. People who leave Satan with the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, relegating "evil" to more manageable and explainable psychoses that can be named and catalogued within the human heart. There's nothing wrong with Hitler, Pol Pot, and Osama bin Laden.  I remember one of my classmates approaching our systematic theology professor in seminary asking, "Do I really have to say that line about the devil and all his empty promises?" The professor smiled at him and said, "Spend twenty years in parish ministry and come back and ask me that question again." Well, I have seen myself, Satan or evil spirits speaking through people and violent people becoming calm and quiet when the evil spirits leave them.

Malcolm Muggeridge, the late British journalist, converted to Christianity in mid-life after years of agnosticism once wrote: "Personally I have found the Devil easier to believe in than God; for one thing, alas, I have had more to do with him."

Satan is as real as God is real and Hell is as real as heaven is real. Redemption in Jesus makes sense only in the context of Satan, hell, and the great fall of humanity.

Most temptations strong enough to lead one away from God should have its origin in Satan. St.James 1:13 says: When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. God can allow temptation happen to us as we see in the book of Job. It is to test and strengthen one’s faith and fidelity to God. But not all temptations are from Satan either. Some are conditioned by our own inordinate desires. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make one happier."

But temptation is not sin.  In fact, every temptation is a chance to exercise our trust in God, to reclaim territory for Christ's Kingdom, just as Jesus did when he was tempted.

The temptations of the saints were for them opportunities of self-discovery. They revealed the breaches in the fortress of their souls that needed to be fortified, until they became the strongest points.

Temptation is part and parcel of the human condition. Temptations become stronger and almost irresistible after each successive failure. Like it is very hard to stop itching just once when we start scratching the itching part of the body. We may need to continue until we get more satisfaction. Or temptation can be compared to like: if I like a particular kind of snack chips, if I open the packet it is almost impossible to stop eating after eating just one piece of chips. Almost an irresistible urge will push my hand down the chips packet. So is temptation too. Once we open the can…it will continue the flow or series for some time.

There is a story about a little boy named Bobby who desperately wanted a new bicycle. His plan was to save his nickels, dimes and quarters until he finally had enough to buy a new 10-speed. Each night he asked God to help him save his money. Kneeling beside his bed, he prayed, "Dear Lord, please help me save my money for a new bike, and please, Lord, don't let the ice cream man come down the street again tomorrow."

An overweight businessman decided it was time to shed some excess pounds. He took his new diet seriously, even changing his driving route to avoid his favorite bakery. One morning, however, he showed up at work with a gigantic coffee cake. Everyone in the office scolded him, but his smile remained nonetheless. "This is a special coffee cake," he explained. "I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and there in the window was a host of goodies. I felt it was no accident, so I prayed, 'Lord, if you want me to have one of those delicious coffee cakes, let there be a parking spot open right in front.' And sure enough, the eighth time around the block, there it was!"

How do we overcome the temptations. The first step is to pray. Jesus taught us in the prayer our Father: lead us not into temptation. And he told his disciples in the garden of Gathsemene: pray that you may not fall into temptation.  The second step is to avoid the tempting occasions and circumstances and people.

Another way to overcome temptation is to keep reminding us of who we are, and whose we are. We belong to Jesus. He chose us. Martin Luther would cry out: "I am baptized. I am baptized, when he felt by temptation." He needed the assurance of his identity, that he belonged to Jesus. To remind us that we are baptized and we bear the stamp of Christ’s cross on our life will give us the courage to fight the temptation.

We need to confront and conquer temptations as Jesus did, using the means he employed: Even though Jesus refuses to turn stones into bread, later, he will miraculously feed others, but He refuses to let the devil manage His miracles! Knowing that His Mission is to win hearts through love and truth, Jesus refuses to engage in theatrical stunts to win popularity.

Jesus sets a model for conquering temptations through prayer, penance and the effective use of the ‘‘word of God.” Temptations make us true warriors of God by strengthening our minds and hearts. We are never tempted beyond our power. In his first letter, St. John assures us: "Greater is He who is in us, than the power of the world." Hence during Lent, let us confront our evil tendencies by prayer, by penance and by meditative reading of the Bible. Knowledge of the Bible prepares us for the moment of temptation by enabling us "to know Jesus more clearly, to love him more dearly and to follow him more nearly, day by day.”

ASH WEDNESDAY. (Joel 2:12-18 ; 2 Cor 5:20 – 6:2 ; Mt 6:1-6,16-18)

 A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $50 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $50 bill?" Hands started going up. He proceeded to crumple up the dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" The hands went up again. Then he dropped it on the ground and ground it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, crumpled and dirty, and said. "Now who still wants it?" The hands went up. He said, "You have all learned a valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it didn't decrease in value. It was still worth $50."

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by our own decisions or those of other people. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, we will never lose our value: dirty, clean, crumpled or finely creased, we are still priceless to the one who knows us through and through, and values us so much that he wants to live in friendship with us forever. If you still find it hard to believe, look closely at the crucifix. That is the real message of Lent. Christ wants us with him forever in heaven, so much that he was willing to be torn and crumpled and stomped on and humiliated just as much as we have been, to show each of us how much he loves us. Prophet Isaiah says when Jesus was on the cross no one would want to look at him; that much unattractive or so to say, filthy he was , though he was the Son of God.

Even though the 50 dollar bill does not lose its value by crumbling, if one receives that crumbled bill, he would first straighten it up and try to remove the crease and probably press it to get some stiffness back before he puts it in his wallet. This is what we do during the season of lent. Remove the crumbles from our soul, by prayer, fasting and abstinence and charity, so that God can use us for his glory.

Every religion practices fasting at some time during the year. Muslims fast during sun light hours, the whole month of Ramzan. The Hindus fast often, some people once a week. For us Catholics we are asked to fast twice during the year, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Catholics who are 18 and older up to 60 years are obligated to fast and those above 14 years are obligated to practice abstinence from meat on these days.

In the Old Testament we see a number of instances where God sent his prophets to the people to warn them of their evil ways and to remind them to return to God. The Jews expressed their sorrow by tearing cloth and putting ashes on them. One of the manifestations of inner repentance was pouring ashes on one's body and dressing in sack cloth.  "Having been rebuked by God Job confesses, "Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6). Other examples of this practice are also found in the Book of Esther, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and so on.

In the New Testament Jesus alludes to this practice, "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you Bethsida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sack cloth and ashes."

Yes, we are marked with ashes, because we are sinners, but the mark is given in the sign of Christ's cross, which won for us the grace of a fresh start and a new life. We are marked on our foreheads, because Christ wants us to go boldly into the world as his representatives, not shamefully as sinners, but boldly as forgiven sinners.

Through Prophet Joel, God invites us to “return to Him with our whole heart”. God does not want a half heart, he wants our full hearted dedication; he does not want a half cleansing, but a full cleansing by repentance, fasting and praying.

Today Jesus is calling us to himself in an ever-deeper way, inviting us into his endless forgiveness and asking us to return to his loving embrace.  With tears of joy, we can accept his outstretched arms.  As we get crosses marked on our foreheads with ashes, let us resolve to give our whole heart to God and ask him to cleanse us and purify us of our sins.

OT III [C] Neh 8: 2-4, 5-6, 8-10; I Cor. 12:12-30; Luke 1: 1-4; 4: 14-21

One day in an introductory Bible class one of the participants asked: "Why are there four Gospels rather than one?" Certainly things would look a lot easier if there was only one Gospel. Everything we read in that one Gospel would then be the gospel truth, pure and simple. Now that we have four Gospels that often differ significantly from one another, things can be quite confusing. When you come to think of it, however, you begin to realize that things would be a lot worse if we had only one Gospel. If we had only one Gospel we would think that there is only one way of understanding Jesus and how he relates to us. But now that we have four different Gospels, each of them telling a significantly different story of Jesus and his mission, it becomes easier for us to see that no story of Jesus can exhaust the whole truth of what Jesus is. As limited human beings we can only tell part of the story of God.

This reminds us of the story of the six blind men who set out to discover what the elephant is. The first blind man feels the elephant's side and says the elephant is like a wall. The second blind man feels the elephant's tusk and says it is like a spear. The third feels the trunk and says it is like a snake. The fourth feels the elephant's leg and says the elephant is like a tree. The fifth feels the ear and says it is like a fan. And the sixth blind man feels the elephant's tail and concludes that the elephant is like a rope. You could imagine the bitter disagreement that would ensue among them if they got together to discuss the nature of the elephant. Every one of them would insist that he is right and the others wrong. But the truth of the matter is: yes, he is right, but then so also are all the others. Each of them has a valid experience of the elephant but no one of them possesses the full knowledge of the total reality of the elephant. Even when you put all the six images of the elephant together it still does not capture the full vision of the elephant.

After Vatican II the church's reading of the Gospels on Sunday was revised into a three-year cycle: year A for the gospel of Matthew, year B for Mark, and year C for Luke. The gospel of John is read on certain Sundays interspersed within the three years, such as the Sundays of the Easter season. We are now in year C, the year of Luke. The question we shall be asking ourselves this year is, What aspect of the mystery of Christ does Luke highlight, as distinct from the focus of the other Gospels? A certain scholar has outlined in one word the aspect of Christ that each of the Gospels highlights. Matthew highlights the Christ of majesty (who heals by word of mouth alone, never touches people, never hungry, never angry, etc.), Mark highlights the Christ of might (who proves he is the Messiah by his acts of power and authority over natural and demonic forces), Luke highlights the Christ of mercy (who reaches out to the poor, the outcasts, foreigners and women) and John highlights the Christ of mystery (who was with the Father from all eternity and who has come into the world to reveal this hidden mystery, the truth that leads to life).

Today we begin reading the Gospel of Luke. In his opening preface (1:1-4) Luke tells us why he wrote the gospel. It was to explain to Theophilus, probably a Roman official, what Christianity was all about.  In telling Theophilus about the Christian faith, Luke finds the incident in the synagogue in Nazareth very useful. In this incident found only in Luke's Gospel, Jesus makes a solemn declaration of his mission in the world. We can call it the Jesus Manifesto. People who initiate a revolution usually start off with a declaration of their manifesto. Karl Marx started by publishing the Communist Manifesto. Martin Luther started off with the publication of the 95 theses in Wittenberg. Jesus has come to start a revolution of mercy and love in the world. And here in today's Gospel reading he publishes the Christian manifesto:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (4:18-19)

In these few words Jesus claims that he is the One sent "to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberation to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and freedom for the oppressed"—language that reflects the Biblical year of Jubilee.

We need to receive Christ’s freedom, live it and pass it on to others: As members of Christ’s Mystical Body, we share in the freeing, saving mission of Jesus.   But we are captives of sin. We need Christ to set us free. We are often blinded by our evil habits, addictions and need for financial security. Once we receive true liberation from Christ, we have to share it with those we encounter in our daily lives, families, neighborhoods, parishes and workplaces.  

The readings challenge us today to listen to the Word, accept it into our hearts, then put it into practice as we live out our lives, liberating ourselves and others from all types of bondages.   As Jesus comes alive in our hearts, let us be ready to become Spirit-filled instruments of Christ’s saving freedom and healing.

BAPTISM OF THE LORD: Is 40:1-5, 9-11; TITUS 2:11-14, 3:4-7, LUKE 3:15-16, 21-22

Today is the feast of the Baptism of  Our Lord. It is the event when God the Father revealed to the world that Jesus was his beloved Son. It was also a revelation of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Baptism marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Even though he had no need to be cleansed from sin himself, he receives baptism to take our place, so that we in turn, when baptized, take Jesus' place, and thus  become "sons in the Son".

Baptism is a huge symbol -- it's the water of creation. At its basic level, baptism is the death of the old self. Before anything new can be born, the old has to pass away. In the nature we see death and rising. Winter is the season of death…but in the spring we see the dead trees and plants springing up to life. This occurs in the spiritual realm too.

Water causes death as well as gives life. The great flood of the time of Noah, caused death of all the living beings, except those in the Ark with Noah. The waters of Red sea caused death for the Egyptians, but became a source of life for the Hebrews and freedom from the oppressing Egyptians. When one goes down under water at baptism he loses breath which sustains life. But when he rises from the water it is like coming back to new life. So, in baptism one dies with Christ and rises in Christ, like Jesus rose from death.

In Baptism Jesus exchanges his divine life with us and he takes our mortal nature and makes it immortal by merging it with his nature and life. French writer Henri Barbusse (1874-1935) tells of a conversation overheard in a trench full of wounded men during the First World War. One of the men, who knew he only had minutes to live says to one other man, "Listen, Dominic, you've led a very bad life. Everywhere you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, here, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, take my good name, my life and quickly, hand me your papers that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death."

The Good News is that through Jesus, God makes a similar offer. When we are baptized, we identify ourselves with Jesus. We publicly declare our intention to strive to be like Jesus and follow God's will for our lives. When we are baptized, our lives are changed. We see people and things differently than before. Baptism enables and empowers us to do the things that Jesus wants us to do here and now. And we are able to love as he loved. Such identification is life changing.

Those who are baptized in Jesus need to nurture that new life so it can grow and mature.

Developing our friendship with Christ is the main project of our whole life. But even so, we can identify three steps that can help us focus our ongoing efforts to become more and more united with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: those are- knowing him, loving him, and imitating him. When we were baptized, God’s own life was poured into our souls; it was planted like a seed in fertile soil. But every seed, in order to grow to maturity, needs three things: water, sunlight, and nutrients. The seed of divine life in our souls also needs three things in order to grow to maturity. The more fully we come to know Christ, especially through prayerful reading of the Gospels and time spent with him in the Eucharist, the more we will come to love him. And the more we love him, the more we will want to follow and imitate him, especially in his perfect fulfillment of the Father’s will and his tireless, active love for all people.

If we let these three motifs of knowing, loving, and imitating Christ set the rhythm for our daily living, we too can please the heart of God and be filled to overflowing with his life-giving love, just like our Lord.

 Life is a continuous conversion. In every setting in which we are put, we have to “put on the new person.” There are whole areas of our lives which have not yet been brought into subjection to Christ, and it can only be done by this continuous conversion. Paul tells in 2 Cor.10:5 ..bring your every rebellious thought captive in Christ and make it obedient to him. Once we are able to do that, our spiritual growth in Christ becomes strong and steady.

Our baptism calls us to live as the children of God in thought, word and action. It give us the grace to grow daily in intimacy with God by personal and family prayers, by meditative reading of the Word of God, by participating in the Holy Mass, and by frequenting the sacrament of reconciliation. It is a day to thank God for the graces we received in Baptism, to renew our baptismal promises and to preach Christ’s ‘Good News’ by our transparent Christian lives of love, mercy, service and forgiveness. Thus ultimately we may hear the words of the Father: this is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.

EPIPHANY-Is 60:1-6;  Eph 2:2-3, 5-6;   Mt 2:1-12

Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of our Lord. The Greek word epiphany means "Manifestation". It is an older feast even than the feast of Nativity. In the western Church on this feast we remember the Magi who came from faraway lands to worship the baby Jesus. They came guided by a star. Being nature worshipers who had no scriptures, God revealed Himself to them through the means available to them in their own religion. Through the stars they were able to learn of the birth of Jesus and find their way to him. They came as pagans, they worshiped Jesus as pagans, and they went back home as pagans. They did not convert either to Judaism or to Christianity. Their worship was acceptable to God and God directed them in their journey home through a dream. This shows that God does have a relationship with people of other religions who are neither Jews nor Christians.

There is only one God, and all who seek God with a sincere heart are led to Him, though they call Him by different names. One thing Christians have in common with members of other religions is that we all worship the same God. We all are children of the same Father. This truth is hard for religious people to appreciate because religious people all over the world tend to claim that they have exclusive access to God and the truth.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish people believed that they were the exclusive people of God. They divided the whole world into two: the Jews who were the people of God, and the Gentiles who were not. Some of their prophets and wise men tried to correct this belief by reminding them of the universal love of God for all humankind. But it was not until Jesus came that this idea began to sink in. As the letter to the Ephesians states, Christ made both groups, Jews and Gentiles, into one people and broke down the dividing wall of hostility separating them (Eph. 2:14).

In the past, Christians tended to make the same mistake as the Jews of old by claiming that there is no salvation outside the church. Then Vatican II came along, the church opened the windows to the Spirit of God, and came to recognize that God’s truth is available to people of other religions, although not to the same degree that it is available in the church. The difference between the Christian faith and other faiths, therefore, is not that we possess the truth of God and they do not, but that, thanks to God’s unique revelation in Christ, we can know and see God’s truth more clearly, love God more dearly, and follow God’s ways more closely in our daily lives. But again don’t mistake to believe that there is salvation “outside Christ”. No. There is only one mediator between God and man- Jesus Christ. If people of other faith are saved, they are saved only through Christ. Jesus is the only way to the Father. The Catholic Church has and holds all the treasures of the Church Jesus founded on the Apostles. So, it is the ordinary means of salvation offered to us. Believing the teachings of the Bible and holding fast to the traditions handed down to us through the centuries and receiving the sacraments we are promised heaven. But God who gave us this means, is not bound by his own laws. He keeps his promise but he is above the law he made for human beings. He is free to work outside the frame work he laid out for human beings. Therefore he can save people of other faiths, through extra ordinary means, but only through Christ. People who leave the Catholic faith and go to other faiths can be compared to people who leave a safe bridge (the Church) and choose to walk a tight rope to cross a flooding river. People leave Catholic faith primarily because it is more demanding than other faiths. But in fact they don’t realize that they are choosing even tougher path to their goal.

The magi needed not just their wisdom to seek the new born king; without the knowledge of the religious authorities, they would not have known where to find him. So it is with us in our own search for the meaning of our lives. First of all we Christians have the wisdom of our Scriptures, the Word of God. It is to this Word, who is ultimately the person of Jesus, that we owe our primary obedience. Here we hear the summons to take to the road. But if we just rely on our own interpretation of the Bible, then we may easily misunderstand what it says. So we listen to the scriptures as members of the Church, a community which stretches across two thousand years. We listen to the wise and holy men and women who have wrestled with the Word, and learn from them. God is always guiding us, but that doesn't mean that the journey is easy.  These three wise men had left their homelands far behind in order to follow their star, but right when they seemed to be arriving at their destination, the star disappeared.

If they had turned back at that point, they would never have found the light of Christ, the light they were thirsting to find, the meaning they longed for. We are often in the same situation.  We know God is faithful, and we want to trust him, but we lose sight of the star.  That's when we have to exercise our faith in God - to keep following his will no matter what.

There is someone in our life now who has lost sight of the star and thinking about turning back.  They are doubting God's faithfulness. Maybe they are finding it hard to accept one of the Church's teachings.  Maybe they are facing suffering and loss.  Maybe they are stuck in sin and are drifting further and further away from the light.

Whatever their specific situation, they need to be reminded that God is faithful, that even though a cloud has covered up the star, the star is still there, and if they keep following God's path, their journey will lead them to the light.

Today let’s promise him to do our best this week to remind those around us that God can be trusted, that it's worth it to follow the star.

The magi left their comfort and their routine in search of the prince of peace. They fell to their knees in homage, their learning made them humble, and their wisdom led them to recognize the Divine in the fragile flesh of a child.

Like the Magi let’s offer God- the gold- our talents and efforts, our incense- our prayers and worship, and the myrrh-  our sufferings and sorrows. After this Mass, let’s go back in a different way, not the way that would lead betraying the Lord, but glorifying the Lord and declaring the world that we have see the savior of the World.