Cycle (C) 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Sir. 27:4-7; 1 Cor. 15:54-58; Lk. 6:39-45

The first reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus contains wise and precious advice on a number of topics. Today’s reading deals with human speech, and tells us that the character of a person is revealed in his conversation. Today’s Gospel also confirms the same message. Every tree can be told by its own fruit. Out of the good treasure of the heart, the good person produces good, and out of evil treasure, the evil person produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks." If a bottle of acid trips over, milk won’t come out of it, but only acid. The same way what is in the heart comes out through words.

Jesus says a tree is judged by its fruit. Sometimes a tree can give false impression that it is laden with fruits. Once Jesus saw such a fig tree and went over to it and found nothing on it and he cursed it. There was another such a tree that gave a huge impression of having a lot of fruits but brought out only sour ones.

This is the story of a religious founder who lived in the 7th century and whose followers form the second largest religion in the world. He was so vile that even Hitler and Stalin would come only next to him in matters of atrocities.

He beheaded 700-900 Jews in a single day after capturing the Jewish settlement of Banu Qurayza after besieging them for 25 days.  After falsely charging them for siding with the enemies of the Muslims Muhammad orchestrated for a verdict that all of their men should be killed, their property divided, and the women and children taken as slaves".

The following is the quote from the book, life of Muhammad written by a Muslim. “Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for the captives and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900.(The life of Muhammad,(A translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah) A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, New York, 1978),p.464.

One man writes: I was among the captives of Banu Qurayzah. They (the Companions) examined us, and those who had begun to grow hair (pubes) were killed, and those who had not were not killed. I was among those who had not grown hair. (Sunan Abi Dawud 4404, Book 40, Hadith 54)

Another incident is like this: Some people from a far of village came to Muhammad and they said they were sick. Muhammad sent them to drink camel urine and milk. And when they got well they raided the camels of Muhammad and drove them off. They killed the herdsman of Muhammad who was a believer. Muhammad sent (people) in pursuit of them and they were caught. He had their hands and feet cut off, and their eyes put out. And they were thrown in the hot sun to die and when they asked for water he forbade them any water. (Grade: Hasan, Sahih, Sunan Abi Dawud 4369, Bk. 40, H.19).

An 80 year old poetess who wrote distasteful poetry about Muhammad was killed very brutally. Her hands and legs were tied to two camels from opposite sides and pulled apart. Another young poetess who did the same thing, and who had four young children, was sleeping at night with her little baby sleeping on her belly was her head cut off, for denigrating/disparaging Muhammad.

There are a few cases where Muhammad allowed his henchmen to tell lies to befriend people to deceive them and kill them stealthily. A man named Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf told some unpleasant things about Muhammad and so Muhammad allowed his henchmen to tell lies to him about Muhammad so that they can befriend him and get closer to him and one held his hair and the other stuck knife into his heart. Muhammad allows Muslims to do Taqiya, means lie.

The Quran says: “The punishment for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: Q.5:33— Yusuf Ali

A couple of years ago a college professor from my home state in India, named a fictitious character in a question paper as Muhammad. Some Muslims attributed it as blasphemy for naming Muhammad a funny character and when he was coming back from the Mass with his wife and his sister who was a nun, some Muslims stopped him and got him out and cut his one foot and the hand from opposite side as prescribed in the Quran. So, when some people say the Muslims do not practice the atrocities ordered in the Quran, that is not true.   

 

Allah says: I will cast horror into the hearts of the disbelievers. So strike their necks and strike their fingertips.” (Q.8:12 — Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran). After killing mutilate the body.

We have to judge a tree by its fruits. A religion is to be judged by what it professes, not by what some followers practice. Christianity is not to be judged by you or me but by what Christ taught us and what is in the Bible. The same is true with Islam. That is why Jesus said, judge the tree by its fruit. If the tree is bad the fruit also will be bad.

 

Our Lord teaches us not to judge people, but he does teach us to judge actions: evil people do evil things, just as good people do good things. 

In order to lead a blind person, one must be sighted; in order to teach, one must be knowledgeable; otherwise, the blind person and the student will be lost. The point of this image of the blind leading the blind is that we must be careful when choosing whom to follow, lest we stumble into a pit alongside our blind guide. We are Christians who have Jesus as our guide, Jesus who said, I am the light of the world. Let’s pray that we be given the light of grace to be good fruit bearing trees manifesting the glory of God to people around us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VII SUNDAY: (I Sm 26 2:7-9, 12-13, 22-23; I Cor 15:45-49; Lk 6:27-38)

The first Reading from the book of Samuel shows the extraordinary example of magnanimity given by David.  David had a golden chance to do away with his enemy, King Saul. But David refused to have Saul killed because Saul had been “anointed” king of Israel by Yahweh. With one of his commandants David sneaked into Saul’s camp and took the spear and pitcher of water from beside the king. In those days, revenge was considered sacred, and to spare one’s own enemy was considered both foolish and dangerous. David’s generosity was something totally out of the ordinary in his time.

In the Gospels Jesus gives a firm command to his disciples “Love your enemies and do good.”

It was something strange to the listeners of Jesus, because the Law of Moses established in case of offences received was that the revenge should not exceed the offence.

“Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, .. (Ex.21:24) Jesus knew how difficult it would be for his listeners to accept it. 

There are people in this world who are specifically told to hate people of other religions. Hate them, not because they behaved badly towards you but because they are people of other religions. That is the only reason. You may probably say, oh that is not true. Every religion is a way to God and every religion contains goodness and truth. Well, I want to draw your attention to what Islam teaches.

 

The Quran teaches NOT to LOVE ANYONE OTHER THAN A MUSLIM: Islam is the only Religion that mandates its followers to love only Muslims and hate non-Muslims. Allah would have no relation with those who take disbelievers in Islam as friends. Here is the quote from Quran.

. “The believers (ie. Muslims) must not take the disbelievers [Jews and Christians] as friends instead of the believers. And whoever does that has no relation with Allah whatsoever, unless you (do so) as a protective measure (in order to) save yourself from them. (Quran 3:28-Mufti Taqi Usmani).

“…saving yourselves from them by speaking in a friendly way towards them, while your hearts dislike[s] this”.  This is the commentary on the Quran 3: 28. This means that a Muslim has to pretend that he is friendly but hate you in their hearts.

Muhammad said: “Those who follow Allah are harsh towards the disbelievers and compassionate towards each other. …. “. (Q.48:29 — Abdul Haleem)

“O you who believe, do not take the Jews and the Christians for intimate friends. They are friends to each other. Whoever takes them as intimate friends is one of them.” (Quran 5:51-— Mufti Taqi Usmani)

Allah stirred up enmity and hatred among Jews and Christians until the Day of Resurrection. (Quran 5:14-— Abdul Haleem)

Fight them until there is no more persecution, and worship is devoted to God…”Quran 2:193.  — Abdul Haleem

Quran even says the Christians and Jews are worst of creatures. Quran 98:6- Sahih International:

Muhammad told the Muslims not to greet the Christians and Jews. ”Do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you and when you meet any one of them on the roads force him to go to the narrowest part of it”. (Sahih Muslim 2167 a, Bk. 39, H.16)

Wish good only for Muslims: Muhammad said, "None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself” (Bukhari 13, Bk.2, H.6).

Allah tells the heavenly angels to hate Christians and Jews: He said when Allah hates a person, he tells the angel Gabriel to also hate them. Then Gabriel hates that person and calls out to the people of heaven and tells them to also hate that person, and then that person is hated in heaven and on earth (so the hate is spread around): Sahih Muslim 32:6373 (6705).

Muhammad cursed Christians and Jews on his deathbed:  Bukhari 56:660 (3453); Sahih Muslim 4:1082 (1187)

Those who have faith fight in the way of Allah, while those who disbelieve fight in the way of Satan. Fight, then, against the fellows of Satan. Surely Satan's strategy is weak. (Q.4:76- Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi

So, fight in the way of Allah. You are not responsible but for yourself, and persuade the believers (to fight in Allah’s way). It is likely that Allah will prevent the mischief of those who disbelieve. Allah is the strongest in power and the mightiest in punishing. 4:84-  Mufti Taqi Usmani

Allah cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, the Jews and Christians. Quran (3:151) —

"You (true Muslims) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind." means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam. (Bukhari 4557, Book 65, Hadith 79]

 

These teachings cannot be from a only true God. Because if God is the creator of all, He is the father of all, He cannot give order to kill His own children if he/she is on the wrong way or even in sin or do not even believe in Him. Jesus said your heavenly father makes sun shine on the good and bad alike. Therefore, this is from devil. Because Jesus said, the devil comes to steal and Kill. He is a liar from the very beginning. Judging by this verse of Jesus, Islam is from evil. But the Muslims are not to be hated, because they are victims of devil. They happened to be in and most of them forced to be converted and once they are in they cannot go out if it, as it is forbidden by death penalty. So, have pity on them and pray for their conversion. One of the intentions of my every day Mass is Lord convert at least a 100 Muslims today to believe in the true God.

There are some Afghan families are rehabilitated into our area. If you happen to them, reach out to them. Of course they won’t know your language now, but gradually make them aware what they are into. Make them realize they are on the way to destruction. It is very difficult to travel to a foreign country and speak to them about Christ, but once they are in our neighborhood, it is much easier.

 

 

In his final commandment to his apostles Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another” (Jn 15:12). Another good reason for us to forgive our enemies is, “(so that everyone will know that we are his disciples” (Jn 13:34-35). Thus, Christian forgiveness can be a form of evangelization.

What makes Christianity distinct from any other religion is the quality known as grace, i.e., God’s own life working in us, so that we are able to treat others, not as they deserve but with love, kindness and mercy. Therefore, we need to be Christians, filled with grace, ready to love and forgive those who hate us.

 

 

 

 OT VI [C]: Jer 17:5-8; I Cor 15:12, 16-20; Lk 6:17, 20-26

John D. Rockefeller, Sr.(1839-1937, was a millionaire at age 23. At the age of fifty, he was a billionaire. He was the richest man in the world, but he was a miserable, rich man. At the age of 53, he was eaten up with physical diseases and ulcers. He was a grabber, not a giver. He was always trying to get more money and he was a greedy man. Greed had so consumed him, that at the age of 53, the doctors told him he had one year to live. Just one year. Here’s a billionaire, the richest man in the world, and all he could eat that year, all that his stomach could handle was milk and crackers. Milk and crackers. The man could go out and buy any restaurant in the world, buy it; he could have any food before him on the table, but it wouldn’t do him much good. It was in that year, that Rockefeller began to look at his life. He said, “I have all these possessions, and I’ve never been a giver.” That’s when he decided to become a giver. He gave to Churches, to hospitals, to foundations, and to medical research. Many of the discoveries we’ve had in medicine have come from money provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. —That man who had only one year to live at age 53, began to live, and began to give, and do you know what happened to him? He started releasing all of the internal negative things that were killing him. He got rid of his stress, his tension, and his ulcers, and he lived to the age of ninety eight, a saint to many. Depending on one’s strength and wealth can never give any solution to the ultimate problems of our life. But trust in the ultimate power of God can change our life.

Today’s readings teach us that true happiness, or beatitude, lies in the awareness of who we are and of what we are supposed to do. They remind us that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and that we will be  happy in this world and in Heaven only when we share our blessings with our brothers and sisters in need and work to uplift them, thus declaring our “option for the poor,” as Jesus did. The eight Beatitudes Jesus gives in Mathew and the four Woes and Blessings in Luke contradict the ideas about real happiness found in the Jewish culture and in our modern society.  According to these modern notions, wealth, health, power and influence are the true Beatitudes. 

The first reading tells us that true beatitude consists in placing our trust in God and in putting our trust in His promises. The Responsorial Psalm, (Ps 1), finds beatitude in keeping God’s Law. St. Paul warns us, in the second reading, that true beatitude is obtainable only in Heaven, and that Christ’s Resurrection is our assurance of reaching Heaven for an everlasting life of happiness. In today’s Gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples in the paradoxical   blessedness of poverty, hunger, sorrow, and persecution because these contradict our natural expectations in every way.  “Blessed are those who are poor, hungry, weeping, hated, excluded, insulted, and denounced,” because in poverty, we recognize God’s reign; in hunger, His providence; in sorrow, true happiness; and in persecution, true joy.

 

Father Louis Everly, a noted Belgian theologian, priest and writer says that so many people never find happiness because they do not know where to look for it. Too many people make the mistake of seeking one more material thing, one more pay raise, one more promotion, one more problem solved, one more handicap overcome. “If only I had that,” they often say, “I would be happy.” — Too late they learn that happiness does not come from the outside but from within.

Many people fall into the devil's old trap of seeing their Christian life as a list of obligations, a hindrance to fun, and a limit on their freedom. But when they come to the right understanding why they were created and why they are in this world they could seek and find true happiness.  Jesus doesn't want us to waste our lives; he wants us to live them to the full.

 

The manufacturer always knows what's best for the product. Everything Jesus teaches, everything he asks of us, everything the Church teaches about how to live, what to do, what to avoid -these are the manufacturer's instructions, meant for our benefit, for our blessedness. Therefore, we can never find blessedness away from Jesus’ teachings. If we are blessed here on earth according to Jesus’ teachings, we will be blessed in heaven too. This Sunday we need to examine whether we are really seeking real blessedness here so that when we are finally called home we will hear Jesus tell us: Come blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.

 

 

 THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY [C] (Dec 26, 2021)

(1Sm 1:20-22, 24-28; 1Jn 3:1-2, 21-24; Lk 2:41-52)

 

On this feast of the Holy Family, let us reflect on the privilege we enjoy, of belonging to the most beautiful family the world has ever known: the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. The Church is our sacred family. This family sanctifies its members by the holiness of its head, the Christ. All the holiness that belongs to this family is conferred by Jesus to its members. Since the head is holy, the family is holy. We say in our creed: I believe in the Holy Catholic Church. We may think, is that really true? We know about ourselves how sinful and unworthy we are. We also hear a lot about other members of the Church who do not behave in manner worthy of this adjective “holy” of the Church. Only those who are not in mortal sin are really members of the mystical body of Christ. Mortal sin separates one away from God and therefore one cannot be in the Holy Church where God is sacramentally present. The Church is the sacrament of God, sign and reality combined.

 

That there are sinners, like you and me, in this family hardly needs pointing out. Nor should it surprise us. Jesus saw his mission as bringing healing and hope to sinners. It is the same for the Church. In Jesus’ day, some sinners welcomed his love, let it turn their lives around, and we know them as saints. Others brought about his crucifixion. When disciples of Jesus sin, we do so in spite of who he is, and against his teaching and example. It is the same today with the Church. We sin in spite of the beauty and grace that make the Church what it is.

This beautiful family is the ‘Body of Christ’ in the world, the ‘Temple of the Holy Spirit’. It embraces and consecrates us in the sacrament of baptism. The risen Christ, through the Church, continually pours into our hearts that Spirit of love that binds the heart of Jesus to the heart of God. He promises a bridegroom and a bride to consecrate their mutual self-giving in such a way that they are a sacrament to each other of God’s love. When a disciple dares to take up his challenge and ‘do this in memory of me’, by offering his or her energy to carry on Jesus’ ministry in various parts of the vineyard, he promises to sustain them by his love and to make their ministry fruitful. He is there to embrace the sinner and to sustain us as our earthy journey nears its end. At every step of our journey, at every turn in the road, he is there, present in his Body, assuaging our hunger and quenching our thirst.

Think of all the beautiful people who are part of our Church family – and it is the desire of the heart of Jesus that no one would be left out. All are welcome, and we are to play our part in making that welcome apparent. The synod that is coming up in Rome in April is meant to take improving actions after listening to all the people in the Church family. This listening is not just from church going Catholics but even from other Christians from different traditions and also from non-practicing Christians. The Church takes it seriously and wants to listen to its children of all walks and traditions. Therefore, for the coming two-three months let’s take some time to think and discuss about how we can make the Church really a family that can grow not only in number but in depth of holiness of life.

 

 On this feast of the Holy Family let us renew our commitment to not only to our own family, but also to our Church family. This includes a searching of our souls to see if, with God’s grace, we can move towards resolving any hurts that keep the family divided. Let us commit ourselves also to work for social and especially church structures that welcome men and women to enrich us by sharing their special gifts. Let us reflect more deeply on the feminine as well as the masculine experience of love as we look to God, our Father-Mother. By baptism we are all brothers and sisters and we are all called to be fathers and mothers to each other as well. We need everyone’s gift, everyone’s love, for we need each other to be sacraments of the fatherly and motherly love of God.

May the celebration of this feast of the Holy Family help us to dedicate ourselves to the well being of our both families: the Church family and the biological family. May the Holy Family of Jesus Mary and Joseph become a beacon light for us in this endeavour.

 

CHRISTMAS Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-16; John 1:1-18

On this joyful evening/night/day, we are celebrating the day of the birth of Jesus. We share the Joy of Mother Mary, we share the joy of St Joseph, we share the joy of the Shepherds and we share the joy of the Angels.

For four weeks now we have been preparing to celebrate this blessed day. Through four Advent weeks we have been listening, reflecting, praying about the expectations of a people that walked in darkness. It was a time of hope, hope expressed in those magnificent messianic oracles of Isaiah, visions of universal peace when there would not only be no more war and not even preparations for war. Spears and swords, instruments of death and destruction, would be turned into plowshares and pruning hooks, farm tools that cultivate the fruits of the earth and give us life.

 It was a time of promises yet to be fulfilled, a time of eager longing and expectation, a time of hope, that this could be a better world and that something great and wonderful would happen to let us know that God continues to be faithful, that God has not abandoned his people, and that God would break into our sad and sorrowful world with proof of a love beyond all expectation. Christmas is the fulfillment of those expectations. However, this fulfillment is not totally here. Though, Christ came into this world and fulfilled his mission of bringing peace to this world, only when he and his message are accepted and appropriated in each one’s life that fulfillment of the promise will remain incomplete.

 

Now, Why did God become man? Pope Benedict in one of his Christmas homilies said here is why.  

In the Credo there is a line that on this day we recite on our knees: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven." This is the fundamental and perennially valid answer to the question -- "Why did the word become flesh?" -- but it needs to be understood and integrated. The question put another way is in fact: "Why did he become man 'for our salvation?'" Only because, we had sinned and needed to be saved?

Blessed Duns Scotus, a noted Franciscan theologian, regards God's glory as the primary reason for the Incarnation. "God decreed the incarnation of his Son in order to have someone outside of him who loved him in the highest way, in a way worthy of God." This answer, though beautiful, is still not the definitive one. For the Bible, the most important thing is not, as it was for Greek philosophers, that God be loved, but that God "loves" and loved first (cf. 1 John 4:10, 19).

 

Christ did descend from heaven "for our salvation," but what moved him to come down for our salvation was love, nothing else but love. Christmas is the supreme proof of God's "philanthropy". John too responds to the why of the Incarnation in this way: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever should believe in him would not die but have life everlasting" (John 3:16).

So, what should be our response to the message of Christmas? The Christmas carol "Adeste Fideles" says: "How can we not love one who has so loved us?" There is much that we can do to solemnize Christmas, but the truest and most profound thing is suggested to us by these words. A sincere thought of gratitude, a feeling of love for him who came to live among us is the best gift we can give to the child Jesus, the most beautiful ornament in the manger.

 

The first to hear about his birth were shepherds, poor people, looked down upon by others because, despite the importance of their occupation, it was one that violated the intricate regulations of ritual purity, and so they were excluded from the synagogues and from temple worship. A major theme of Luke’s Gospel will be Jesus’ mission to the poor and the outcasts. He was one of them. He would be rejected by his own. There was no room for them in the inn, so he was laid in a manger.

Interestingly in Saint Luke’s short account of the birth of Jesus this manger is mentioned three times. We are told that Mary laid her infant in the manger. The shepherds are told that it is a manger which will be for them the key to identifying new born saviour. And it is when they reach the unlikely scene of a new-born in a manger that they recognize in this the person of the saviour, the Messiah and Lord.

The manger is thus a sign, not just for those mentioned in the Gospel narrative but also for us. When we look at the manger this evening what is it pointing to in today’s world? The manger is first of all a reminder that God tells us that if we want to understand who God is, then we have to look first of all at the humility of Jesus’ birth. The God of power and might appears in our midst without any of the trappings of what power and might mean in our terms. When we recognize that Jesus is born as an outsider, then we realize that God must be different to what we think.

The mystery we celebrate today is not just a historic occurrence that happened once two thousand years ago. The Incarnation, the enfleshment of the Word of God, is a mystery that is still with us. How does this mystery become real in the lives of each and every one of us?

Listen to what St. Theresa of Avila has to say on the subject: Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.

It’s Theresa’s insight into the mystery of the Incarnation and how it continues in our lives today. After all, as St. Paul so strongly insisted, we are the Body of Christ. Since that is so, then, it is in and through us that the Incarnation remains actual, that the presence of Christ is manifested in our world today.

Since God took on our human nature, we now share in God’s own nature. There is in each and every one of us at least a spark of the divine. How do we best celebrate the birth of Jesus? By accepting so great a gift, by letting that spark shine, by using our heads and hands and hearts to show the world the compassion that was born two thousand years ago but is still with us. Jesus is still Emmanuel.

May the peace, the joy, the love, the wonder that this day celebrates be yours today and every day of your lives. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advent-IV-C:  Mic 5:2-5a; Heb. 10:5-10; LK1:39-45

The wait is almost over. Christmas is only 5 days away. The Church gives us this 4th Sunday of Advent as a last reminder that Christ is coming. The first reading, from the book of Micah, reminds us that Christ is coming. “Bethlehem, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.”

And then the gospel gives us the meeting of Elizabeth and Mary. The wait is almost over, and Elizabeth realizes it. She says: “How is it that the Mother of my Lord comes to me?” There’s a sense of anticipation, someone is coming. And he is The Prince of Peace.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of peace in the world. Terrorist attacks abound. We have shootings in our own country. Evil and injustice can appear overwhelming. But in the first reading today, Micah tells us something more. The reading ends with these powerful words: “He shall be peace.”  When Jesus was born the first message the angels announced was “peace on earth”. Ever since man estranged himself from God, he lost his peace - Peace within himself, Peace with the nature and peace with God. And man’s search for peace continues throughout ages.

A story is told of a child who’s afraid of thunderstorms. One night there was a particular violent thunderstorm. The lightening was flashing outside, and each new crash of thunder sent a shiver down the child’s spine. He huddled underneath his covers, terrified and feeling very alone. During a momentary lull in the storm, he gathered the courage to leap out of bed and sprint down the hallway to his parents’ room. He hurtled into his parent’s bed, and hugged his mother for dear life. She hugged him back, and waited till he stopped shaking. Then she asked him a question. “Why didn’t you pray to God when you were so afraid in your room?” And his answer was very telling. “I tried to, but I needed something with skin on it.”

And when it comes to peace, we need something with skin on it to give us the guarantee that peace is possible. That’s why the promise of Micah in the first reading is so wonderful. “He will be our peace.” Peace is not an abstract idea. Peace is not a beautiful theory. Peace is a person, Jesus Christ, something with skin on it.

Why is He peace? Because, peace means wholeness. If we are not OK with God, then we can’t be at peace with ourselves or with others. St.Teresa of Calcutta used to say: “I’m not ok, and you’re not ok, and that’s why Jesus came.”But in Jesus, in the sacraments that make him present here today, we come to be at peace with God. In the sacrament of Reconciliation, our sins are forgiven and we’re at peace with God. In the Eucharist, we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and we’re united to God.

 

Peace is a state of mind, and there is no point asking for peace in the world if, at the same time, we are constantly in a war mind state with one another: if we give strangers a bad look, if we ignore other human beings around us, if we argue with strangers while driving and if physical fights break out for the most trivial things. 

We have to make peace within ourselves first, then within our family. Peace with our neighbors and peace with the strangers we encounter outside. Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise or trouble. Peace means to be in the midst of all the chaos and still be calm in the heart. The real peace is the state of mind, not the state of the surroundings. It comes from a mindset that is ready to accept others and serve others.

There is a Chinese saying that goes: “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” For centuries, the greatest thinkers have suggested the same thing: Happiness is found in helping others. “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” said Winston Churchill.

Gospels present Mary as the perfect example of this. "Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country to visit Elizabeth” When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb and she cried out, “blessed are you among women.”

Mary was an instrument to bring the prince of peace into this world. Today the same mission is given to each one of us. To be an instrument of peace.

Making someone else feel good is more rewarding and longer-lasting than anything else. So building up a reserve of happiness through acts of service could increase our inner peace. And that will be our best preparation to welcome the Prince of Peace.

We may call ourselves true Christians only if our lives express Christ by our own peace. We must never allow grudges to be rekindled in us in any way… may we never risk the life of our souls by being resentful or by bearing grudges.

Am I bearing a grudge against someone? Ask God to free me from that. Am I resentful against God, against someone else, or about a particular situation in my life? Let that go.

And do we want to know the best way to do that? By giving thanks to God. Let’s take Paul’s advice today in gaining peace for our life:  “With thanksgiving, present your petitions to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

 

Advent III-C (Zep 3:14-18a; Phil 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18) 

The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete [gow-DAY-tay] Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. That’s why today’s readings mention the word “joy” twelve times.

In today’s first reading, the prophet Zephaniah says, “Shout for joy, O Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel.” Zephaniah made this prophetic proclamation at the height of the Jewish exile when things appeared hopeless and unbearable. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Is 12:6), the prophet Isaiah gives the same instruction: “Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” St. Paul echoes the same message of joy in the second reading, taken from his letter to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again, rejoice… The Lord is in your midst… Fear not… be not discouraged… The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all…” Paul was imprisoned when he made this appeal for rejoicing!

In the Gospel today, John the Baptist explains the secret of Christian joy as a wholehearted commitment to God’s way, lived out by doing His will. A sad Christian is a contradiction in terms. According to the Baptizer, happiness comes from doing our duties faithfully, doing good for others, and sharing our blessings with those in need. John challenges people to develop generosity and a sense of fairness, and to use these to give others reason to rejoice. John’s call to repentance is a call to joy and restoration.

 

Advent is a time for joy, not only because we are anticipating the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, but also because God is already in our midst. Christian joy does not come from the absence of sorrow, pain, or trouble, but from an awareness of the presence of Christ within our souls through it all.

We can only rejoice “always” if our joy is based on something that goes deeper than the passing pleasures of this world. What is that deeper thing? Salvation; friendship with God; something that never ends, and something no one can take away from us. That is the source of a Christian’s joy, and that is the gift Jesus brings us. The joy of Christ the Savior is different from the joys of the world in three ways.

First, it doesn't wear out.

This is because it comes from something that is alive: our relationship with Christ. This is why the Christmas tree is an evergreen tree. In winter, the other trees are leafless and dormant. But the evergreen tree is still green and fragrant. The evergreen symbolizes hope amid winter’s lifeless, cold, and dark days.

Second, Christ’s joy gets more and more intense as we advance in our journey of faith.  This is why the vestments for today's Mass are rose-colored.

Third, the more we give this joy to others, the more we will have for ourselves. And this, of course, is why we have the tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

We have all experienced that when we do something for others, even if it is costly or uncomfortable for us, we experience true fulfillment and satisfaction. But when we give into our selfish, self-centered  tendencies, we shrivel up, like Scrooge.

Like the candle-light service on Christmas Eve, by lighting someone else's candle with ours, we lose nothing, and gain more light and warmth than we had before. This is the joy Jesus wants to bring to us: a lasting, growing, self-multiplying joy that comes from accepting God's gift of our Savior.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote: "If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you... Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life.”

If friendship with Jesus Christ is the source of lasting joy, then the deeper and more mature this friendship is, the more fully we will experience lasting joy.

The Church's best spiritual writers, all agree, that this friendship depends on three things: knowing, loving, and imitating Jesus Christ. The fact that we are here today, shows that all of us, at least to some extent, already know and love Jesus Christ. But what about imitating him?

Advent still has two weeks left.

Let's make this our goal: to strive to be imitating Jesus better at the end of these two weeks than we do today. And I think we all know exactly how to make that happen: First of all, we need to start out each day in prayer, because without God’s help, we can do nothing. Then we simply need to make a decent effort to treat our neighbors as we would like them to treat us – family members first, then friends, colleagues, teammates, and strangers.

If we strive to know, love, and imitate Christ just a little bit better each day, our friendship with him will never grow cold, and, little by little, our lives will become true fountains of Christian joy. May the rest of the advent season keep us in earnest efforts to deepen our friendship with Christ.