Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings are filled with emotional appeal. First let us talk about David. He was only the second king of Israel and at God’s command was handpicked by the prophet Nathan. He was the youngest of seven brothers and had the least of chances to rule Israel. But because he was so specially chosen, God had very high expectations of him. God expected him to reverse the evil rule of Saul, to keep the Covenant that God made with Moses and the Israelites, and to be a man of personal holiness and integrity.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
I said to someone the other day that I was “funeralled out.” We have had so many funerals and so many tragic deaths that I feel emotionally drained. The most challenging part of my ministry is to keep the hope and faith of grieving families, particularly children. The intense grief comes from knowing that the family will not have the PRESENCE of their loved one. PRESENCE – that is the key. Sometimes we take it for granted, but the ability to be present to each other the greatest thing about being alive. Funerals are sad because death takes away our ability to be present to each other.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
We have often heard about St. Patrick and his use of the shamrock to explain the Trinity. I recently came across a more modern explanation that I had not heard before. C.S. Lewis used the analogy of a three dimensional picture to explain the Trinity. If we draw a line on a piece of paper it becomes a one-dimensional image. You can make that line a square if you add length and breadth to it. Now, it is a two dimensional square but the same image. Make the square into a cube, by adding two more lines in such a way that now there is depth in the picture, which is the third dimension. So now there is one image but three dimensions. Trinity, according to C.S. Lewis is like that - three persons yet one God.
Solemnity of Pentecost
On this the Feast of Pentecost, if there is a fact that today’s readings are suggesting, it is this: that Christianity is dependent upon the presence of the Holy Spirit. In today’s second reading from the letter to the Corinthians Paul says, “No one can say, “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3b). In today’s gospel passage, Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on the apostles and gives them the authority both to forgive or retain sins. (Jn 20:20). In other words, forgiveness of sin is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit. There are other instances of absolute reliance on the Holy Spirit for Christian living. In Romans 8:26 Paul would say, “…for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” Paul is suggesting that the very desire to pray is itself a work of the Holy Spirit. It is possible, then, that the our desire to be in church for worship today is the work of the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament the very first stirrings of what would finally become Christianity, originated with the power of the Spirit in the womb of a virgin. We can compile a long list of other instances in the Bible where the role of the Holy Spirit is crucial to a life of faith.
Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus
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On some tired nights I go to Caribou Cafe and sip a latte. Of late, I have noticed that the glass windows at the cafe have writings on them. The company has discovered a neat way to advertise – it has put rather noble sayings along with statements that promote their products on these glass windows. Last week, I picked up this paper napkin. It says, ‘Life is too short: for grudges, fake anything, putting profits before people, over-roasted coffee, waiting for a change to happen, crabby people and wifi you have to pay for!’ On the walls there are other suggestions – ‘Adopt an animal; donate blood’. This is a very clever advertising strategy. If a company puts moral statements along with its advertising, people are inclined to have a positive image of the company. But I think that something even deeper is happening on these glass windows and napkins. Either intentionally or unintentionally, the company is also proposing a particular world-view. It is a world without grudges, dishonesty, and unethical business; it is a world where people are good to animals and stay away from bad people. There is only one problem with this world-view as I see it – you don’t need God in this this way of conceiving the world. Spirituality, in this world-view, has nothing to do with the divine. Rather, God who created the world, has no place in the Caribou world. In fact, there is whole generation of people out there – people disenchanted with the church, those that dislike religious restrictions, young people disillusioned with the establishment – who find this world-view very attractive and liberating.
Sixth Sunday of Easter
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What a week this has been! One event after another tested our nerves as a nation. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the floods in Tennessee, and the failed bomb attempt in New York grabbed the nation’s attention. Of all the weeks, this was the week that the nation could have used some prayer. May 6 was to be the National Day of Prayer. On the contrary, the day was -marked by controversy and a court ruling that said that having a government-mandated Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. The National Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of "freethinkers: atheists, agnostics and skeptics of any pedigree," filed a lawsuit and Wisconsin judge Barbara Crabb issued a 66-page ruling that said the law violates the U.S. Constitution. In her decision, Judge Crabb said that because prayer is a powerful activity, the government could not use its authority to try to influence when and how people pray.
Fifth Sunday of Easter
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This is the amazing story of Sr. Rani Maria, a Clarist nun, from the diocese of Indore in India. On Feb 25, 1996, following religious violence against Christians, she was stabbed to death by Samandar Singh, a Hindu right wing activist. (As an aside let me say this - the reason for violence against Christians is not a simple issue of bad Hindus killing good Christians. It is a little more complicated than that. I cannot deal with the complexities in this homily). This murder shook the Catholic Church in India.
Samandar Singh was arrested in connection with the murder, tried and sentenced to prison, where he spent 11 years. In prison, he went through two experiences. First, his wife divorced him and his first son died. Grieving and angry at the same time, he began plotting how he could take revenge against the man who pushed him to kill the nun. Second, to his utter amazement he received a visit from another nun, Sister Selmi Paul, who happened to be the murdered nun's biological sister. This was no simple visit. During the entire visit, the nun addressed him as “brother,” and she embraced him in forgiveness. Samandar Singh was profoundly touched by this gesture. This experience began his journey of repentance. He gave up plans for revenge and accepted the sorrow caused by the murder. The story does not end there.
Fourth Sunday of Easter
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I was at the movies this week to see the movie“Letters to God.” The movie depicts the true story of Tyler, a young boy whose life is put on the line when he is diagnosed with cancer. Quite uncharacteristically, though, instead of losing faith and hope, he begins to write a letter a day to God. He writes to God about his illness, his family, his friends, and even a school mate who dislikes him. Through his letters to God he soon becomes a surprising source of hope and inspiration. These letters changed the meaning of life for his family, his neighborhood, the local church, the mailman and anyone else that came in contact with him.
On the periphery, this is a very simple movie, I might even say a little too simplistic. It does not answer the deeper questions that emerge in our minds. It does not deal the “why” and “what” of suffering. But what it does is that it lays out the basic tenets of evangelical protestant faith – unconditional faith in Jesus, enduring all things in faith, asking the question “WWJD,” accepting Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior etc. It is a ‘back to the basics’ kind of movie. For me, that is the attraction.
Third Sunday of Easter
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Here are three scenarios I present to you. First scenario: sex-starved celibate clergy, on the prowl, greedily eying children or anyone whom they can sexually exploit. Second scenario: emotionally unaffected celibate men, holy priests in every sense of the word, who by some supernatural power are able to live exemplary lives all the time – every one of them. Third scenario: Catholic priests, human in every sense of the word, who strive to answer to the call of God and the church community to the best of their ability, weak and vulnerable as any other person, yet most of them exhibiting extraordinary sacrifice, commitment, and love. I hope it is obvious to you that scenario one and two are both exaggerations. The third scenario is closer to the reality.
Second Sunday of Easter
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The Easter vigil service last Saturday night was an unforgettable experience for many reasons. First of all, we had thirty-three people who were, either baptized, confirmed, or received into the Church. It was an immensely solemn and touching ceremony. But then, twice we had to completely halt the service. During the reading from Scripture one of the servers holding the candle for the readers blacked out and fell hard on the floor. We waited about fifteen minutes for the medics to arrive and safely take him to the hospital. And then during the laying on of hands for Confirmation, another person blacked out. We halted the services again for about 10 minutes for the medics to arrive. A third person was very close to joining the bandwagon but she averted the potentially third crisis.
Easter Sunday - The Resurrection of the Lord
(After reading this homily, tell us why YOU believe in the Resurrection? What does Easter mean for YOU? Post your comments at the end).
This has been an incredible Lent for me. From heart wrenching retreats to tough Lenten penances to the sheer exhaustion of hard work – this Lent has been a very fruitful journey. This morning, after the practice with the elect from the RCIA, after the practice with altar servers, and after taking meticulous care of the preparation for this celebration, I was hungry and exhausted. I went into my room, stood there for a minute, looked up and I said, “You better have risen from the dead!” Well humor aside, if Christ is not risen from the dead, then not just this lent, but my entire life thus far has been wasted; if Christ is not risen from the dead, then you are wasting your time here in this Church tonight; if Christ is not risen from the dead, these thirty-three RCIA elect have wasted a whole year in frivolous pursuit; if Christ is not risen from the dead, then every person that died and we buried last year, we better have given them a good farewell because we will never see them again. If Christ is not risen from the dead...
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
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Suffer... Suffering... I do not like the very sound of these words. I don’t like the thoughts that these words trigger in my mind. I don’t want to imagine or think about it. There is not a single moment that I have spent trying to figure out what life would be like if I had a lot of suffering. I have imagined my life without suffering... not ever getting old, not getting a single grey hair, not ever having to deal with wrinkles, not ever having to go the hospital, not ever having misunderstandings... but I try not to spend time imagining suffering. And yet, even as I stand here and preach, there is no denying that for one reason or another, I suffer. And I am aware that each one of you, for one reason or another, in small or greater degree, suffer.
With the celebration of this Eucharist we are entering the most sacred events As we enter Holy Week, we are entering into a week that dramatizes the stark realities of the human condition. Within the Jesus story we find intrigue, malice, prejudice, hatred, betrayal, bribery, corruption, and bloody murder. Intertwined in this sad story is the life of a man who took the consequences of human sin upon himself and transformed it into love, forgiveness, peace and eternal life. He did so by becoming the “suffering servant” of God – a concept introduced to us both in the first and second readings. By becoming the “suffering servant,” Jesus changed the very meaning of human life. Human quest for permanent happiness and eternal life can only be fulfilled in Jesus.
Fifth Sunday of Lent
(Homily based on Year A readings)
Last Wednesday, I had an unusual funeral. I was burying Paul West, who leaves behind his 82 year old wife, Tee. Had Paul made it to June of this year, they would have been married 50 years. Since I did not know Paul and Tee, the bereavement couple had given me extensive notes on Paul. Based on that information and the Scripture readings, I had prepared a nice homily. But when time came for me to deliver the homily, I realized that Tee could not hear me unless I spoke with her real close, one on one. To make matters even more difficult for me, her grief was so overwhelming that I realized that my homily would be ineffective. Quite to my own surprise, the homily turned out to be a personal conversation with Tee. While my theme for the homily was “care,” Tee said to me that between Paul and her, it was not just about care, it was about “love.” When I said to her that I am sure there were difficult times through which they must have loved each other, she said to me, “It was not hard at all.” But she also understood that love and care would mean something totally different from now on. I said to her, “Tee, but God takes “care” of Paul in death. Only God, I said, could love and care for us beyond our death.” I saw the relief on Tee’s face, as she nodded her head in faith.
Third Sunday of Lent
“Have you accepted Jesus as you personal Lord and Savior?” It is not uncommon that either at work, or a stranger at the door, or at a grocery store has asked you that question. Catholics often scoff at evangelical Christians who ask that most celebrated question, “Is Jesus Christ your personal Lord and savior?” “Well, Yeah!” any Catholic will proudly answer. And yet, ask any Catholic to explain their personal relationship with God – they are at a loss. An evangelical Christian, on the other hand, you could not stop them talking about their personal Lord and Savior. It is not that Catholics do not have their strengths. What defines Catholics is the sense of community – the sacraments, particularly Sunday mass. The difference between evangelicals and Catholics is that Catholics do not think of themselves as lone individuals on a personal journey toward salvation. Catholics think of themselves as part of a mass of humanity moving together toward God. But I wonder if Catholics should also focus deeply on their personal relationship even as they live that faith in a community.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
You know that I look forward to every trip home to be with my parents. However, in this very traditionalist part of India, there is something I do not look forward to – being the kind of priest that I am. Many of my relatives do not want a jeans-clad, long-haired “hippy priest.” Even when I am at home they expect to see me dressed in my collar, constantly exercising my priestly duties, perhaps, on my knees in prayer. Yet, when I raise some of the social issues that plague our society, like the dowry system or caste system, they think I should just be a priest and not a rebel. My own home town is the most difficult place for me to be a priest. I usually do not worry about these things but I hate for my parents to hear anything negative said about me. I think they hurt for me.
On my last visit, however, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of focusing on the negativity, I decided to focus on my reaction to people’s expectations and criticisms. I began to evaluate my own ability to tolerate criticism. Most of all, I began to focus on my own ability to understand people. In this sense, I understand Jesus’ dilemma in today’s gospel reading as he visited his own home town of Nazareth.
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Today's Scripture
I am going to make a confession. I was at loss this advent because none of things that normally tug my heart in preparation for Christmas did anything for me this year. Somehow I felt a dis-connect with everything traditionally Christmas: carols, decorations and gifts. Not that I did not take advent seriously. I did everything I preached to others over the last three weeks. And then, I read the short gospel for today’s liturgy – Mary visits Elizabeth. Something finally clicked. As we get closer to Christmas I feel totally mesmerized by Mary. It is almost as if this year it is going to be a Mary Christmas for me. In fact, I read the entire story of the birth of Jesus to get a clearer glimpse about Mary’s role in the incarnation. I read every passage where Mary is mentioned in the gospels. And then I began to write this homily. The result in the end was rather surprising.
Third Sunday of Advent
Today's Scripture
At the volunteer party last Sunday, Santa came by and gave the children their gifts. Guess what I got this year – a big lump of coal. I guess, I have not been very good this year. I don’t think I deserve Santa’s coal. I think Bernard Madoff or Tiger Woods should get it But since I am in the dog house I guess I will join them in saying, “What must I do?” That is what the people in today’s first reading and the gospel reading did.
Second Sunday of Advent
Today's Scripture
“Why believe in God? Be good for goodness sake.” Such and other ads are now common on the Washington DC and New York Metro trains and buses. Here is another one: “Don’t believe in God: You are not alone!” Billboards along the busy highways in Dallas and Fort Worth offer this message. The American Humanist Association has begun an extensive ad campaign to promote atheism. The timing is clever – just as people’s minds begin to focus on religious feasts, just as the Church begins the season of Advent, there is a concerted move to counter God, faith, and religion. Add to this the economic downturn and the personal struggles of people – despair makes us question God. I met with a man last week whose life has fallen apart since he lost his job with General Motors. He now drives a school bus for four hours a day and is unable to meet the needs of his three children. None of them have health insurance. There are others who are compelled to take jobs outside their expertise, jobs they dislike or move away from family for the sake of jobs. During such times faith is bound to be at risk. God does seem far away. Despair can set in easy.
First Sunday of Advent
Today's Scripture
You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout and I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows if you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake.
Would you believe me if I said that this song is straight from scripture?
The Solemnity of Christ the King
Today's Scripture
The feast of Christ the King was instituted as a feast by Pope Pius XI as late as 1925. More than purely spiritual considerations, it was world political events that prompted the Pope to institute the feast. World War I (1914-1918) was barely over and the memories of the blood bath was still fresh in the minds of people. Nine million soldiers were killed and an unspecified number of civilians were also killed. After the war unprecedented nationalism and Fascism spread throughout Europe and the world. Both Mussolini and Hitler were flexing their brute power. While the war was over, conflicts continued to simmer. Twenty-one years later (1939-1945) the II World War would break out and this time sixty million people would be killed. The fact that the feast of Christ the King was instituted between the two World Wars says much about Pius the XI’s intentions. First, he wanted to turn Europe’s attention from petty nationalism and destructive Fascism toward God. Secondly, he wanted to point out to an alternative way to exercise power in a world that was increasingly hostile and divisive – the power of love. Thirdly, he wanted to turn the world’s attention from the atheistic secularism that was sweeping the West and focus its attention once more on God.