Sunday Mass Readings
Today’s homily is a catechesis on the Eucharist. I want to take three central concepts in the Eucharist and discuss it, so that we have a deeper understanding of our gathering each Sunday. The three important concepts are “epiclesis,” “transubstantiation,” and “anamnesis.”
Sunday Mass Readings
For four consecutive weeks, hardcore fictional movies have broken all records at the box office: Spiderman III, Shrek III, and Pirates III. That completely fictional movies would be this successful is really fascinating. After all, we don’t find people spinning webs and flying around in real life. We don’t find ourselves magically transported in space and time in real life. And “up” is not “down” in real life. Why have these movies captured the imagination of the general public? Mystery – perhaps, that is the answer. From my perspective, these movies transport us from the real world into a mysterious world and it fascinates human imagination. In fact, as human beings, a sense of mystery is ingrained in each one of us. And that is why the outer space and the ocean bed intrigue us.
However, human capacity for the mysterious is not limited to the physical world. Karl Rahner, the famous theologian said that human beings are born with this sense of mystery and thus human beings constantly strive toward the transcendent. The highest point of this transcendence is God.
Pentecost Sunday Readings
I was at a graduation party yesterday. A man whom I have not met from Adams was trying to pick an argument with me. When the first question a person asks you in a condescending tone is, “Are you a Hindu priest or a Catholic priest?” you know its time for a fight. In the same disdainful tone he asked me how long my masses were. From my guts, from the core of my being, from my heart I hate, I detest, and I abhor that topic. He was hinting at a twenty minute mass. You would have been proud of me. Quite unlike me, I remained fairly calm and kept the humor alive in the conversation. A twenty-minute mass is like two-minute noodles – it is fake and its flat.
Sunday Mass Readings
I had much trouble trying to find a starting point for my homily. so in the midst of my insane schedule I made time to watch, not one, but two movies hoping to get a starting point for my homily: Spiderman III and Shrek III. Pardon me if you liked them but I personally think they were a little too ‘hokey.’ However, in both these movies, one can see the redemption story unfold. In Spiderman, particularly, this is more evident. Peter Parker goes through the process of discovering his evil side. But he also rediscovers his “real” self. It is the choice he makes that heals and restores him. Spiderman does make the choice to go on “holy ground,” and rid himself of evil. It is the change in him that makes Harry, his arch enemy make the choice to turn his life around.
Sunday Mass Readings
BBC carried a news item last week on their website titled “Unholy row at clergy soccer game.” A friendship-building football match between Muslim and Christian clergy in Norway was called off after a row over the participation of women players. Muslim Imams had refused to play against women because it went against their beliefs about close physical contact with the opposite sex. But when the church decided to drop its women players, the priests' team captain walked out in protest. The game was meant to be an enjoyable end to a day-long conference in Oslo. Members of the two faiths had been discussing ways of encouraging greater inter-faith dialogue.
Sunday Mass Readings
Last Monday, National Public Radio carried an amazing interview on its program, ‘Talk of the Nation.” Cheryl Ward-Kiser is an ordinary person like any of us; Up until that day when five men and a woman entered her home, raped her daughter and murdered her husband in her sight. While the crimes were being committed, Cheryl was herself pinned to the ground by a man who had her foot on her back and a gun to her head. Cheryl saw through the conviction of these criminals but that did not seem to bring her a closure.
Sunday Mass Readings
On my visit to India two summers back I had an experience I will never forget. When I landed at the Bombay airport, there was news that a security personnel had gone on a shooting rampage. He was of course overpowered and being questioned. My first question to my brother was, “Is he a Muslim?” Since the attack on the world trade centre it not uncommon to look at Muslims with suspicion. The moment I asked the question it had struck me how prejudiced my question was. Later than evening my brother’s family and I took a train to my hometown. When I used the toilet in the train I left my wallet in there. After an hour I realized that my wallet was missing. All my credit cards, my driving license, social security card and one thousand dollars in cash were in there. I ran to the toilet only to find that someone had taken it. I was frantic. Meanwhile, I realized that a man about fifty years old was looking intently at my desperation. He asked me what was wrong. I told him I had lost my wallet. He asked me a few questions and then he very kindly took the wallet out of his pocket and handed it to me. He had gone into the toilet after me and found the wallet but did not know whose it was. He was on the lookout for a frantic man so he could return to the owner. I checked the wallet. Not a thing was missing. I thanked him profusely. It was as if God was teaching me a lesson. This sincere and good man happened to be a Muslim.
Sunday Mass Readings
Zimbabwe, the small country in the South of Africa is much in the news these days. The fortunes of Zimbabwe have for more than two decades been tied to President Robert Mugabe, the pro-independence campaigner who wrested control from a small British colonist community in the 1980’s and became the country's first native leader. Prior to his reign there had been much oppression of the natives by British settlers. For example, in 1930, the Land Apportionment Act restricted the native access to land, forcing many of them into wage labour. Native opposition to colonial rule grew between 1930 and 1960. Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 and since then has been the ruled by Mugabe. While he began well, he changed the country’s Constitution in 1987 and became its executive president. They say, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Now, Mugabe presides over a nation whose economy is in tatters, where poverty and unemployment are endemic and political strife and repression commonplace. Zimbabwe has the world's highest annual rate of inflation - 1,700% - and only one person in five is in full-time work.
Easter Sunday Mass Readings
The cover of the April 8, 1966 issue of The Time did not have pictures of any personalities or world events. It had only three words printed on it: Is God Dead? As early as the Oct 22, 1965 issue, Time had printed an article on the “death-of-God theologians.” Among them was Thomas J.J Altizer, an associate professor of religion at Atlanta’s Emory University who wrote, “We must recognize that the death of God is a historical event: God has died in our time, in our history, in our existence.” What compounded the issue was the discovery in December 1945 of fifty-two Coptic extra Biblical texts at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. These documents were translated into English by 1970. These texts presented the life, death and resurrection of Jesus rather differently than the traditional gospels. The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Peter, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Gospel of Judas and other extra-biblical literature do not take the resurrection of Jesus for granted. Fictional accounts of Jesus’ life like the Da Vinci Code, and the more recent documentary on the tomb of Jesus by Hollywood director James Cameron only add fuel to the fire.
Good Friday Readings
In recent times, scientists have issued stark warnings about the perils of “global warming.” Human beings have been on the face of the earth for thousands of years. Has it taken us this long to realize that our actions and our lifestyle has consequences? If there is anything “global warming” is teaching us it is this, that we must take responsibility for our actions. To look at the melting ice in the artic region; to see rising sea levels causing untold hardships to the poor in low lying areas; to see the change in weather patterns across the world; to see the dramatic increase of droughts in Africa and Australia, flash floods in East and South Asia and hurricanes and tornadoes in the Americas is indeed a heart wrenching experience. We have seen this closely both in New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi. The most sobering experience for me has been to look at all these natural calamities and realize that in some way, I am responsible for this.
Palm Sunday Readings
We know from the media that the political climate in the country is very charged right now. Republicans and Democrats have been trading charges as each other over a number of issues. A growing number of people are expressing disgust at the low standards of the political establishment. Some people say this is the lowest it has ever gotten. In the midst of all this, two high profile members from opposite political parties made significant announcements. John Edwards announced that his wife’s cancer had returned. A week later, Tony Snow, the White House spokesperson announced that his colon cancer had returned. God, goodness, heroism, evil, cancer, sickness, pain and death, do not differentiate a Democrat from a Republican, or for that matter an Indian from an American. We are all human beings and subject to the same human condition. Human beings have strived for centuries, to avoid the exigencies of the human condition. They have sought to avoid suffering and become immortal. However, we also know that enormous amount of wealth cannot prevent physical and emotional pain from tormenting us; the best anti-aging creams cannot stop us from aging; and even our foremost medical technology cannot stop us from ultimate death. No wonder, then, that when it comes to matters of life and death, like the Edwards and the Snows, we all turn to the same God.
Sunday Mass Readings
Consider the following news worthy events that hit the news papers this week:
First on a humour note: There is a new online dating website that promises to only let beautiful people obtain membership. The aptly named hotenough.org functions like a regular dating website with pictures and profiles, but members must maintain an 8 out of 10 rating to continue their membership. Well, I guess the rest of us should spend lonely, pathetic lives.
On a more serious note: This year, 2007, Britain is commemorating the 200th year of the abolition of British slavery. Over the centuries, 12 million people from Africa were captured, sold, bought and enslaved. While European countries have paid millions of dollars for the holocaust, for some reason countries are apprehensive about either apologising for slavery or talking about reparation. Finally, Tony Blair said sorry for the slave trade, months after his statement of "deep sorrow" was criticised by some for stopping short of a full apology. In America, this is a highly contentious issue.
Sunday Mass Readings
If we had to trace our faith journey beginning with first Holy Communion till today, what would it look like? How has our faith matured over the years? If you get the chance, it would be a worthwhile exercise to list the areas where we have grown or perhaps even declined. Today’s readings encourage us to undertake such an exercise. More than any penance we may have undertaken this Lent, this might be the most important task.
Today's Mass Readings
The power of desires! I am thinking of the last time Mega Millions was at $ 216 million. I imagined myself winning the amount. And if I did, I imagined paying off the parish debt, setting up a great Catholic school system for Dayton, and helping those who die of starvation. But I did not win. So here I am still poor and my genuine good desires dangling like a pie in the sky. But I have other desires. I wished my parents to be here for my graduation and this desire will be fulfilled. For all of us, desires are a part of our life. Some of these desires are fulfilled some of these are not. I met a couple last week who really desire a child and they don’t have one. I know somebody desired to overcome his addiction and have a family and now he is married and is expecting his first child. In particular, I want to recognize in our midst those catechumens and candidates who for a whole year had desired Christ union with the Church. This Easter God will bring their desire for fulfilment.
Third Sunday of Advent
This week, I spent quite a few hours in the confessional. I celebrated he Sacrament of Reconciliation for the students of St. Helen School on Tuesday. On Thursday, I was at the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the students at Immaculate Conception School. On the same evening, we also the Tri-Parish reconciliation service. In numerous instances, the sense of comfort and relief in the faces of the penitents is something that only I get to see. One penitent put it this way: “I just want to be this (makes a gesture connecting her heart and God above), to be OK.” Tears rolling down her cheeks, she longed to have God back in her life again. She left the confessional in total relief and peace. It’s also called joy!
Second Sunday of Advent
In today’s gospel Luke provides us with some very descriptive historical details. This kind of historical detail is rare in the four gospels, because, in terms of literary genre, they are not historical books. The gospels are a unique genre, and it is meant to inspire faith. Since Luke does give us historical data, we must pay attention to it. Luke tells us who the Roman Emperor was (Tiberius Caesar), who the governor of Judea was (Pontus Pilate), who the regional leaders were (Herod, Phillip, and Lysanias), and who the high priest were (Annas and Caiaphas), when John the Baptist began his ministry. Surely, Luke was being intentional in giving these details. What do these details teach us? I would like to suggest three things:
A friend of mine was telling me her experience at the stores on Black Friday. A mother was standing at the checkout line. Her two little children were giving her a harrowing time. My friend, who was also in line, decided to help her out. She pointed towards the security camera and said to the kids, “Santa is watching you from there!” The kids’ eyes grew big and they stopped dead! The mother had no further trouble with them.
With a contentious mid-term elections barely over, I am not sure about our appetite for the Feast of Christ the King. Often, we completely de-politicize the gospel. However, think about it. Jesus was brought before the political establishment of the time, by the religious establishment of the time, to be judged, condemned, and finally crucified. Jesus’ condemnation and death as much a political event as it was a religious event. On the other hand, perhaps the feast is a breath of fresh air in the midst of all the political contentions. The Feast of Christ the King tells us that the cross was hardly was the end of the story. The feast of Christ the Kings celebrates the reality that the cross became Jesus’ throne, that strength lies in humility, and that power lies in love.
We have been hit by devastating hurricanes and wild fires this year. Especially, when it comes to hurricanes, people are advised to evacuate. I always wonder why some people do not heed the warnings. I understand that some people do not evacuate for compelling reasons - poverty, health issues, family compulsion, pets. But there are those who could and simply will not. And as they were warned, things end tragically for many of them. As we approach the end of the liturgical year, we are reminded that life itself comes with ample caution. We are all invited to live well. We are invited to strive to be happy. We are all invited to make life meaningful. However, the gospel cautions us - all things will come to an end. The Gospel cautions us that life is unpredictable. As with hurricanes and wild fires, there are those who heed the warning and those that do not.
There are two stories in today’s reading and they both involve poor widows. In the first story, Elijah, as he flees from his murderous enemies, seeks refuge with a poor widow. The story tells us that she and her son had only and handful of flour and a little oil left. They were desperately poor. The second story tells us about Jesus’ admiration of a poor widow who “from her poverty” (Mk 12:44), put in two small coins into the treasury. The two coins were all she had. These two thought-provoking stories.