III- Advent: Is 35:1-6, 10; Jas 5:7-10; Mt 11: 2- 11

The third Sunday of Advent is known as “Gaudete Sunday.” Its name is taken from the entrance antiphon of the Mass, which is:Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.
This is a quotation from Philippians 4:4-5, and in Latin, the first word of the antiphon is gaudete. By the third Sunday of Advent, we are most of the way through the season.

Thus it is appropriate to rejoice as we see the goal of the season approaching: “The Lord is near.”

In the readings, we hear about miracles associated with the Messianic age, its coming, and what we need to do to prepare. We also learn about the doubts of John the Baptist, how he dealt with them, and the blessing that makes us even more fortunate than John was. John is the greatest, born of women, but one born in the kingdom of God is greater than John.
John the Baptist is almost a New Testament figure; he is a kind of honorary member of the new community.  The Church does not refer to Isaiah or Jeremiah or any of the great prophets as ‘Saint’, but we call John ‘Saint John the Baptist’.  Yet, as Jesus said to the crowd, “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” 

Scripture scholars over the centuries have wondered why John sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he were the one who was to come. There are two possible explanations: 1) John knew that Jesus was the Christ and, as a prisoner, he wanted his disciples to follow Jesus as their new master. So he sent them to ask Jesus this question and presumed that, once they had met Jesus, they would see for themselves that he was the Messiah and so would become followers of Jesus.

2. John the Baptizer became confused about the way in which Jesus acted out his messiahship. He had doubts about the validity of his contemporary, Jesus of Nazareth. John had said that he came to baptize with water, and that the one following him would baptize with "fire from heaven." So, where was the fire? So far there wasn't even smoke. So far, the Pharisees and Sadducees were still in charge of the faith, and Rome was still in charge of the government. In fact, instead of bringing in the kingdom, Jesus had kept pretty quiet up north in Galilee while John got himself arrested and thrown into one of Herod's dungeons on a mountaintop down by the Dead Sea. That might make a person ask some questions. Is this any way for a Messiah to behave?
John may have found sympathetic doubters among his own disciples who might have wondered how the Messiah could leave their own teacher in prison, and how He could usher in the kingdom without political or military might.  This may have been why John sent his disciples to dispel his doubt, asking: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” 

Like John or his disciples, are we also expecting a Messiah to come with might and power ? Or are we content to recognize him coming to us in a simple unassuming way, in the quiet and simplicity of a manger ? Our Christmas preparations and celebrations will manifest that our attitude.

Another point for us to bring home is: Instead of criticizing Jesus or breaking away from him, John approached Jesus through his disciples.   John may have had his doubts, but he was open to hearing Jesus say that he was, indeed, the one! John must have recognized the scriptural allusions behind Jesus' answer.  Isaiah 29:18 speaks of the deaf hearing and the blind seeing.  Isaiah 35:6 speaks of the lame leaping like a deer.  Isaiah 26:19 speaks of the dead becoming alive.  Isaiah 61:1 speaks of good news for the oppressed, the brokenhearted, captives and prisoners. These were signs of the Messiah's coming.  

From a theological perspective, this entire episode helps us to understand how the experience of a faith crisis can play a role in our spiritual and emotional development. If John the Baptist, even after having had a direct encounter with Jesus the Messiah, could question, doubt and revise his faith, then so can we.  If disillusionment is a necessary precondition for a more resilient faith, then we, too, must be open to its possibilities . Does the Jesus I believe in fail to act in the way I wish him or desire him ?

        
Did Jesus fail to come when we rubbed the lantern?
Then perhaps Jesus is not a genie.

Did Jesus fail to punish our enemies?
Then perhaps Jesus is not a cop.

Did Jesus fail to make everything run smoothly?
Then perhaps Jesus is not a mechanic.

But, he is the lamb of God as John says, who takes away the sin of the world, a lamb that was born in a manger among other lambs. He is not a political king or a quick fixer of our problems in the way we think he is. So we will surely fail to put him in our small box. Let’s ask him to help us in our doubts to strengthen our faith in him, and understand him the way he wants us to understand him.

ADVENT II- Is 11:1-10; Rom 15:4-9; Mt 3:1-12

In the first reading, prophet Isaiah paints a picture of what the reign of the future descendant of David, Son of Jesse, will look like. Isaiah foresees a time when peace and concord would be established throughout the whole of creation. There would be the restoration of a lost serenity and innocence so that in their relations with one another God’s creatures ‘do no hurt, no harm’.

In his kingdom, “The wolf lives with the lamb,

the panther lies down with the kid, Calf and lion-cub feed together with a little boy to lead them.

The lion eats straw like the ox. The infant plays over the cobra’s hole, into the viper’s lair the young child puts his hand.

In short, he will be able to re-establish harmony between God and man; harmony between man and man; and harmony between man and nature. This extraordinary harmony will be founded on wisdom and the fear of the Lord. Once men come to know God, sin, the cause of disunion, will disappear and peace will set in.

The Gospel of today shows John the Baptist inviting the Jews to “Repent, for the kingdom of God is close at hand.”

John came heralding Jesus and he was the last of the Old Testament Prophets; he came after a gap of 400 years of prophetic silence. In the ancient world, a herald was one who went ahead of a king’s chariot to prepare the road. He would command a crew which would smooth out the usually rough roads of that day by filling potholes and removing boulders. The herald would also go before the king shouting, “Make way, the King is coming!”

John was very straight forward in calling people to conversion. He tells those who came to him for baptism that they cannot claim security simply by calling themselves children of Abraham and thus assuming that the promises made to Abraham would be applied to them. Placing their confidence in their ancestry was not enough to maintain a right relationship with God. Rather, John tells them, if they don’t measure up to their calling then God will simply raise up new children of Abraham. God will leave them as chosen people of God.

Participation in the kingdom of God requires a change of heart. And this means living life in a new and challenging way.

The Greek word for repentance is metánoia which means, "to change one's mind and heart," a change of direction or a U-turn. Repentance involves turning around – facing in a new direction -- with a change of heart and a new commitment. Repentance is a daily experience that renews our Baptism. “The repentant person comes before God saying, 'I can't do it myself, God. Kill me and give me new life. You buried me in Baptism. Bury me again today. Raise me to a new life.'" Repentance for us is not a one-time action but must take place daily, because preparing for the Lord is a perpetual task.  Repentance should lead to right action.

At the time that Leonardo da Vinci painted "The Last Supper," he had an enemy who was a fellow-painter. Da Vinci had a bitter argument with this man and despised him. When Da Vinci painted the face of Judas Iscariot, he used the face of his enemy so that it would be present for ages as the man who betrayed Jesus. While painting this picture, he took delight in knowing that others would actually notice the face of his enemy on Judas. As he worked on the faces of the other disciples, he often tried to paint the face of Jesus but couldn't make any progress. Da Vinci felt frustrated and confused. In time, he realized what was wrong. His hatred for the other painter was holding him back from finishing the face of Jesus. Only after making peace with his fellow-painter and repainting the face of Judas was he able to paint the face of Jesus and complete his masterpiece.

Our repentance should lead us to asking forgiveness from God and the one another. To the offended human person we can ask straight but to get assurance of God’s forgiveness we need to approach him through the sacrament of penance. We have opportunity for that here at our parish this Tuesday at 7.00 pm. We will have 8 priests to choose from, to go to reconciliation.

Bearing good fruit is not just doing good things but being a good tree, making oneself worthy of God’s grace. To experience the joys of the coming Kingdom in a fresh way at this Christmas, just as Christ wants us to, let’s show evidence of true repentance in our life. 

Advent-1 Is 2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44

Today marks the beginning of the season of Advent, a time of prayer and preparation -- a time-out from hectic distractions, and a time-in for quiet nourishment from the beautiful Advent scriptures. It's a time for inner activity of prayer, and outer works of generosity to our neighbor.

In the first reading from Isaiah, God invited the divided kingdom of Israel to climb the holy mountain to His house. There He will melt down their swords, and turn their hearts to thoughts of peace.

The second reading from Paul to the Romans insists that we wake up, and throw off the works of darkness. If we follow Paul's advice to walk in the light, then Advent is a time for sincere riddance of sinful ways and sluggish response to the teaching of Jesus and His Church.

Jesus has explained that Jerusalem, the epicenter of the Old Covenant, will be destroyed to make definitive way for the New Covenant. He has explained that the world itself will eventually be destroyed to make way for the new heavens and the new earth.

God wants us to know that our time is limited, that our lives and history itself will come to an end.

He wants us to know this, because he wants us to use our limited time wisely, living as true Christians.

All the three readings of today describe the manner how our waiting should be! The waiting of a Christian is not a passive waiting devoid of any creative activity.  It is not a waiting in laziness. But this waiting is an invitation to walk in the ways of the Lord – the way of justice, the way of charity, the way of forgiveness, the way of simplicity and the way of altruism.

Advent is a time of invitation to be engaged in action. In the mind of Paul the whole life of a Christian is waiting to meet Jesus. It is not a call to be passive and do nothing. But it is a call to be actively engaged in the daily affairs of life. To be instruments in the hands of God. God worked among His people  through the medium of chosen people. Today we are the instruments at the hands of God.

This text indicates that the end will seem to be a peaceful and normal time, with people eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and working in their homes or businesses.  In this routine normal life, it might be easy to forget the "coming of the Son of Man."   In a reference to the story of Noah, Jesus says that the sin of the people was placing too much emphasis on the normal cares and necessities of life.  They were too concerned with eating and drinking – just as we are during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays.  Jesus reminds us that there is something more important than feasts or weddings: the Son of Man will come to us unexpectedly, either at our death or at the end of the world, and that could be at any moment.   Since God will show up without an appointment, we must be prepared at all times. 

Advent is a time to turn our attention to the three comings of Christ: his first, 2000 years ago; his last, sometime in the future, and his ongoing one, through his grace, his providence, and the sacraments - when we turn our attention to these three comings of Christ, we will see something new, something different.

Somebody has said: If you would like to keep Christ in Christmas, keep Advent in Advent.” If our preparation is serious enough our Christmas will be rewarding. The Jewish scholars knew when and where the Messiah would be born. They gave the clear knowledge to Herod- he will be born in Bethlehem. But they themselves failed to move any finger to go meet the Messiah. But the wise men from the East made a long tiresome journey to find the Messiah and they were fully awarded for their effort.

How shall we make ourselves alert and watchful ? Every morning when we get up, let us pray, “Lord, show me someone today with whom I may share your love, mercy and forgiveness.”  Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus."  Every night when we go to bed, let us ask ourselves, “Where have I found Christ today?”  The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. 

CHRIST THE KING: II Sam 5:1-3; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23: 35-43

Describing the crucifixion scene, today’s Gospel teaches that Christ became the King of our hearts and lives by His suffering, death and resurrection. In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books the Messiah, is represented as a King coming from the dynasty of David.  The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the long-awaited King of the Jews.  In the annunciation  record we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will never end.” (Lk.1:32-33).

When the Magi heard about the birth of a king for the Jews they set out with royal offerings- Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. After 33 years, the same king stood elevated on the cross with the inscription INRI, (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum - "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews").  The soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal purple robe on him, and shouted, "Hail! King of the Jews!"(John 19)

When Pilate asked the question: (Jn 18: 33) “Are you the King of the Jews”? Jesus made this answer, “You say I am a King. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (Jn 18: 37).

The Kingdom of God is the central teaching of Jesus throughout the Gospels.  The word Kingdom appears more than any other word throughout the four Gospels. Jesus begins His public ministry by preaching the Kingdom.  "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:14).

The first person to formally recognize Jesus as king was a condemned criminal.  He captured the Lord's heart with his humble request: “Jesus remember me when you come in your kingly power.” When the whole crowd at the foot of the cross ridiculed Jesus, he was able to grasp the real meaning of Jesus’ kingship. His faith deepened in the dark moments when Jesus’ divinity became obscured. 

In the 1920s, a totalitarian regime gained control of Mexico and tried to suppress the Church. To resist the regime, many Christians took up the cry, "Viva Cristo Rey!" ["Long live Christ the King!"] They called themselves "Cristeros." The most famous Cristero was a young Jesuit priest named Padre Miguel Pro. Using various disguises, Padre Pro ministered to the people of Mexico City. Finally, the government arrested him and sentenced him to public execution on November 23, 1927. The president of Mexico (Plutarco Calles) thought that Padre Pro would beg for mercy, so he invited the press to the execution. Padre Pro did not plead for his life, but instead knelt holding a crucifix. When he finished his prayer, he kissed the crucifix and stood up. Holding the crucifix in his right hand, he extended his arms and shouted, "Viva Cristo Rey!" At that moment the soldiers fired.

When we accept Jesus as the King of our lives, then everyone and everything else falls into its proper place. We are also challenged to find Christ the King in every one around us. As loyal subjects of Christ the King, we are invited to treat others with justice and compassion as Jesus did, especially those whom we consider the least important. 

Jesus Christ still lives as King, in thousands of human hearts all over the world. He said in Lk.17:21 “the kingdom of God is within you”. His kingdom is within each of our hearts and he rules in human hearts that accepts him and gives him supremacy in their lives.  The cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount is his rule of law.  His citizens need obey only one law: “Love others as I have loved you" (John 15: 12).  His love is selfless, sacrificial, kind, compassionate, forgiving and unconditional.   His rule consists in seeking the lost, offering salvation to those who call out to him and making friends of enemies. 

Let us conclude the Church year by asking the Lord to help us serve the King of Kings as He presents Himself in our every day life by reaching out to those suffering around us.   

XXVII- O.T.Hb 1:2-3,2:2-4;Tim 1:6-9,13-14; Lk 17:5-10

All readings today speak a lot about "faith” and how it works in our lives. While the Apostles ask for an increase in the quantity of their Faith Jesus reminds them that the quality of their Faith is more important. Using a master-servant parable, Jesus also teaches them that for Faith to be effective, it must be linked with trust, obedience and total commitment— an active submission to God with a willingness to do whatever He commands. 

The Apostles had been traveling with Jesus for more than a year: living with him, hearing him preach, watching him perform miracles and change people's lives. They had been his disciples long enough to start realizing that they weren't very good disciples at all. They still didn't understand many things that Jesus said. They still couldn't help people as much as Jesus did. It would have been tempting for them, at that point, to get discouraged. But instead, they go up to Jesus one afternoon during a lull in their activities, and they ask for his help. They ask him to increase their faith. Jesus' answer is mysterious. He looks at them and smiles. He must have been glad that they had asked for help instead of abandoning the mission. Then he tells them that they don't need more faith, they just need to use the faith they already have.

It is not the size of our faith that is going to move the mountain. If it is the size of our faith that moved the mountain, then the bigger the mountain the more faith we would need to move it. The bigger the obstacle the more strength we’d need to climb it. The more serious the illness, a faith even greater would be required to overcome it. The more serious the sin the more faith we would need in order to have it forgiven. That kind of thinking, kind of makes sense, but that’s not how faith works. In fact, faith doesn’t do the work at all. God is the one doing the work through faith. Think of faith as the key that opens the door to God acting in our lives. If I have a bigger key ring than you do, does it matter? The size of a key ring doesn’t matter - key rings don’t open doors but it’s that little key on the ring that opens doors. Even a little faith opens the door for God to move the mountains and trees and even our hearts.

Prophet Habakkuk, whom we listened to in the First Reading, stresses the power of faith too - but he also gives us a clearer idea of what exactly faith is. Habakkuk lived in the 6^th century BC, when Israel had been conquered by the Babylonians and the majority of Jews had been deported. It was as if a hurricane, like Katrina, had swept over not just one city, but the entire country. Habakkuk is in the middle of it all, he sees the devastated city and countryside, burned and barren, and strewn with corpses. He feels the pinch of poverty and destruction. And he does the most natural thing in the world: he complains to God about it: "How long, O Lord? I cry for help, but you do not listen!"

This teaches us an important lesson: a strong faith doesn't mean we won't suffer and be confused in life. A strong faith doesn't take away our crosses, but a strong faith does show us where to turn when the crosses come: to God, the all-loving Father. God answers Habakkuk's prayer. He promises that he will act, that He will restore Israel's fortunes. He doesn't give all the details. In fact, he even seems to imply that it may take longer than Habakkuk would like: "If it delays," God says, "wait for it."

But God shows that he is not aloof from our sufferings.  He is watching over us, no matter what. He promises that if we continue to have faith in him, in spite of suffering and hardship, we "shall live". Faith isn't a problem-free philosophy - that's superficial and naïve. Faith is strength with length - it's the power to persevere through difficulties - the power that comes from knowing that our Father is in charge.

Doubleday book publishers put out a book of letters written by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta to her spiritual directors. The public and the media were shocked by these letters. Everyone thought that Mother Teresa was the happiest person in the world, that her faith was so strong that nothing bothered her. And that is exactly the wrong idea of what faith is. Mother Teresa is a saint. Her faith was mature, strong, and contagious - it moved mountains, and it’s still moving mountains. But it didn't make her crosses disappear. Her faith was so strong that she fulfilled her promise never to deny God anything that He asked - but it didn't take suffering out of her life.

I am going home tomorrow to visit my family, primarily to visit my nephew who is fighting lymphoma, lungs cancer. He is only 24, it is hard for my brother and rest of our family to see what he is going through now, but God has his own way of purifying us and making us closer to Him. His way of acting is beyond our grasp of things. But we can always trust him;  though we cannot see through his plan. Even a mature faith doesn’t make a smooth sailing in life.

Similar conditions can make people react differently to the situations depending on their faith. A row egg and a carrot react differently when they are boiled in hot water. Egg which is soft inside becomes hard and carrot which is hard becomes soft. Both responded to the same kind of external conditions but different reactions came from within. Hardships and darkness can make one person closer to God and another person bitter towards God.

What we need to do is to trust God unconditionally of his design for us and keep strengthening our faith. The Responsorial Psalm we heard today gives us one surefire way to activate the power of faith: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart."  Listening to the word of God will help us to fan into flame the gift of faith about which Paul spoke to us in the second reading. By receiving the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of faith let’s fan into flame God’s gift of faith in us and help us aflame others’ faith in Christ.

VISIT OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA- AT ST.TIMOTHY.

Next month, on October 13^th, Pope Francis is going to dedicate the world to Our Lady of Rosary. The Original Statue of Our Lady of Fatima is travelling to Rome for the dedication of this historic ceremony. The Statue of Our Lady of Fatima going around the whole world as ambassador of peace and reinforcing the message of Mary for Conversion.

The apparitions of the Virgin of Fatima in 1917 were in some respects a direct response to a plea from Pope Benedict XV, who implored the intercession of the Blessed Mother in bringing the great First World War to a halt. On May 5, 1917, the Pope sent out a pastoral letter to the world, in which he asked the faithful to petition Mary the Mother of mercy in “this awful hour”. Within eight days, on May 13, the Mother of Mercy appeared at Fatima with her own “peace plan” for the world. In the third of the Fatima apparitions, the Virgin said that the present war would come to an end (something that most people found unbelievable at the time), but a new and greater war would begin during the papacy of Pius XI.

After the overthrow of the monarchy in 1908, Portugal was ruled by anti Christian groups who killed nearly seventeen hundred priests, nuns and monks between 1911 and 1916. Public religious ceremonies were forbidden. It was into this unpromising environment that Our Lady of the Rosary made her world-changing entrance.

The Fatima apparitions were preceded by three appearances of the Guardian Angel of Portugal, in which he prepared the three tiny sheep-herder visionaries (Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia) for the coming of the Mother of God. The apparitions of the angel were followed by six apparitions of the Virgin to the three children from May 13 to October 13, 1917, and numerous subsequent appearances and messages to Lucia.  The apparitions were public events so that even the onlookers were aware of something extraordinary taking place, most especially on October 13, 1917.

The first secret of the Fatima was a vision of Hell, and the second secret was the revelation of the importance of devotion to the Immaculate Heart. The children were also given a third secret, which has never been revealed, although its contents have been a frequent subject of speculation. .

The fourth apparition scheduled for August 13 did not take place as planned as the children were kidnapped by the district authorities for three days and so it took place on August 19^th on a different location.

By October 13, the whole country had heard of Fatima. Seventy thousand people had arrived at the Cova. The night before, a terrible storm swept through Europe, and it was still raining by noon of the 13^th. When the Lady appeared to the visionaries, she said she was the Lady of the Rosary, that she wanted a chapel built at the Cova, and that people must amend their lives and not offend the Lord since He was already greatly offended. Then she stretched out her hands again and rays of light went toward the sun. Thus began the famous miracle of the sun. The sun now seemed to be a silver disk and multitudes could look straight into it without shading their eyes. Suddenly it started shooting off different colored rays in all directions and then spinning on its axis. And then just as suddenly it seemed to be hurtling toward the earth. The terrified onlookers dropped to their knees, convinced that the end had come and many sought forgiveness for their sins. Just when it seemed that there would be cataclysmic collision, the sun returned to its normal position and everything was as before. The miracle of the sun was witnessed not just by those in the Cova but by people thirty miles away. With this magnificent display, the apparitions of Fatima came to an end.

Franciso died in April 1919 and Jacinta in February 1920 as was predicted by Our Lady. Both were victims of the great global influenza epidemic. Jacinta heroically endured excruciating pain in the last months of her life, and her body was found to be incorrupt when it was exhumed in 1935 and 1950.

In 1925 both the Virgin and the Christ child appeared to Lucia. At this time, Jesus asked the whole world to institute the practice of reparation to the immaculate Heart on the first Saturdays of every month: those who for five consecutive first Saturdays received communion, went for reconciliation, recited five decades of the Rosary, and meditated for fifteen minutes on mysteries of the Rosary, all in reparation to the Immaculate Heart, would receive graces required for salvation. In 1929, the Virgin told Sister Lucia that this was the time for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart.

At the request of Sister Lucia, the bishops of Portugal consecrated their country to the Immaculate Heart in 1938- and with good reason it is believed that, as a result of this act, Portugal was not drawn into the Second World War. Lucia entered the Carmelite order in 1948 and she died on Feb.14, 2005 at the age of 97.

Pope John Paul the Second was shot on May 13^{th ,  1981} and he miraculously escaped death and he believed that the assailant could not kill him, because he chose the wrong date, the first day of apparitions in Portugal. And the bullet that hit him is added to the statue on the crown of Our Lady of Fatima. The smith who originally made the crown left just enough space for the bullet to be fixed on the crown with out having it to be re-modeled. He didn’t know how this happened. And this crown was made from the wedding rings and jewels sent by the women of Portugal in gratitude for saving their husbands and sons in World War II. Portugal remained neutral in World War II and did not get involved in war.

Our Lady intervened in history a lot of times. None of the world religions has any tradition or even concept of such phenomenon and it stands in a class of its own without analogy or replication in the history of religions. In his book, Miracles of Mary, Michael S.Durham writes that “the Virgin Mary appeared more than 21 thousand times in the past ten centuries. That includes her apparition at Falmouth. The Month of October is the rosary month, and we will be saying rosary 20 minutes before each Mass on Sundays. October 7^th is the feast of Our Lady of Rosary. It was earlier known as the feast of Our Lady of Victory. It was instituted in commemoration of the victory of Lepanto, a war won against the Turks who almost overrun the Western Europe. On the invitation of the pope Christians all over the world said the rosary unanimously and the Christian Europe was able to defeat the Muslims. Otherwise majority of the world would have been Muslim now. Mary’s intercession is always powerful before God.  And she constantly intercedes for her children. Let’s teach all our children the Memorare: Let’s say it together now:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. 
Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of thy Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me.
Amen.

XXIV-C- Ex 32: 7-11, 13, 14; I Tm 1: 12-17; Lk 15: 1-32

Everyone has lost something at one time or another. There is even a website complete with mobile app, www.lostandfound.com, that acts as a global ‘lost and found’ box. Users can report items missing and users can report items found. It is a good example of how technology can help people connect in a useful way. This is a gateway site for all of the physical things that can be retrieved and returned to their rightful owners. According to their statistics, about twice as many objects have been reported lost as have been reported found in the U.S. So, the site’s users are losing things at twice the rate they are finding them.

Haven’t we all had the experience of losing things that we know deep down we will never recover? Depending on the situation, we can feel disappointed, heartbroken, hopeless, or simply discouraged by our own inability to keep up with things. Isn’t it a wonderful relief to know that we will never fall into the ‘Lost Forever’ category? Isn’t it reassuring to know that God will never give up on us?

Today’s readings remind us that God actively seeks out the lost, wants their repentance and rejoices when the lost are found. God is eager to be merciful toward us, not vengeful and punishing. Our God has always been a God of mercy and patience, a God who seeks out the lost, as shown in the experience of Israel in the desert (the first reading), and through the amazing mercy shown to Paul, the former persecutor of the Church (the second reading).

Paul acknowledges the fact that he had wandered from the truth and rejoices that God first found him, then commissioned him to preach the Good News of God’s unconditional love, calling every prodigal home. Like John Newton, the eighteenth century English composer of Amazing Grace, Paul declared his past openly. . . “I once was lost”. . . “I once was a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance” (v. 13). Calling himself, “the worst of sinners,” and, “an extreme case,” (vv. 15, 16), Paul invites us to marvel at the mercy of God, and to find hope and help for dealing with our own need for conversion.

We too are no strangers to sin. Proverb (24:16) says a just man falls seven times a day and rises again. We do not want to sin but we do. We can overcome this only if we allow the word of God to penetrate us and show up the dark spots in our lives so that we can bring them to the Lord for his healing and forgiveness. 

Ralph Milton tells of the teacher who, for reasons of her own, asked the kids one day, "If all the bad children were painted red and all the good children were painted green, which color would you be?"

Think about it. What color would you be? Red or Green? It is a tough question isn't it when you pose only two options.

One very wise child answered the teacher: "Striped"

It seems to me that in the frame of the story - everyone but Jesus is striped. It is the same in the world today. We are a curious combination of the lost and the found. We are striped. We are, in some sense, not completely lost. We are folks in the middle, as most of us are most of the time. 

Rarely are we completely lost. And rarely are we completely found. There is always a part of us that needs to be dragged and cajoled into the light, and there is always a part of us that is already there in the light. For some it is more and for some it is less, but always some part.

Like the younger son, we need to come to our senses, and realize that we are dying of hunger for the food of heaven, Jesus himself. He is the one who, as St Paul tells us, gives us strength and calls us into his service regardless of our past and present sins.

Let this Sunday be a Sunday of self-reflection, assessment and correction.   If we have been in sin, God, in His mercy, is ready to receive and welcome us back, no less than Jesus welcomed sinners in his time.   Let us pray today that we will allow God’s love and forgiveness into our lives.   Let us also ask God for the courage to extend this forgiveness to others who have offended us. As forgiven prodigals, we must be forgiving people. As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us pray also for God's divine mercy on those who have fallen away from grace.  May their ears be opened so that they may hear that Jesus is welcoming them back home.