From the Pastor

Welcome my brothers and sisters in Christ to today’s celebration of the Holy Mass on the last Sunday of the year. This last Sunday of the year 2008, we celebrate the Solemnity of Humble Shepherds.

During today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, we heard the words of the shepherds who said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

How many times have we Catholics repeated similar words? How many times have we said, “Let us go to the Church to hear the Word of God which has been made known to us.”

As the shepherds went to Bethlehem to adore Jesus in His physical body, you faithful believers come to Church to adore Jesus Who is physically present in the Sacred Tabernacle.

Your acts of adoration are a continuation of the footsteps of the shepherds. Your children shall continue in these footsteps. And so will their children and their grand-children, etc… all for the glory of God.

When the shepherds returned, they glorified and praised God for all they had heard and seen, as it has been told them. They glorified and praised God for the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament, believing that through Jesus, the promised Messiah had finally arrived.

We so have much to glorify and praise God for. We praise and glorify God because we now know beyond any doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. He fulfilled the hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that were made regarding His coming. He died for us. On the third day, He resurrected. He sent His Spirit to teach and guide us. He instituted the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church for our spiritual well-being. He gave us the Sacraments to feed our spiritual lives and to maintain our righteousness.

What the shepherds faithfully hoped for, looking back in time, we now know that their hopes have been fulfilled.

As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us be thankful to God for having revealed His many mysteries to us, the example of the Mother of God, His incarnation through Jesus, the wealth of spiritual blessings that are found in the Holy Church and the endless blessings that we received throughout our lives, some that we have seen, others that passed us without notice.

Let us always be thankful to the Lord God who holds our lives in His hand.

In today’s Gospel we heard how Mary was troubled when she heard the angel. What was going through her mind? Perhaps she thought: If I accept it than people will think that I am out of my mind, they will laugh at me, and they will put me on the bottom of the society. But despite that fear Mary accepted God’s will.

What would you do if today an angel would appear to you and ask of you few things? Would we say yes or no to God?

My dear Sisters and Brothers

How many times in our life we want to escape from God, from Christians responsibilities? And we escape from God because we do not have time in our life for religion, because God is not priority in our life anymore. Sometimes we are angry at God because we asked God for something, and we never received it, and we would say that God does not like us anymore!!

Once upon a time a farmer placed a weather vane on top his barn. It bore the inscription “God is love”. “Does that mean, a neighbor asked that God is fickle as the wind?” “Not in the least – replied the farmer, – it means that God is love no matter which way the wind is blowing.”

Indeed God is love; He gave us his Son whose birthday we will celebrate in the few days. But we have to remember that even though God truly loves us, we must acts as well, to accept God’s will as Mary did. And whenever we are scared to accept God’s will, let’s try to remember about Mary and Joseph. They were scared too. And we do not know if they struggled to accept God’s will, but we do know that they accepted it.

So, the message for the next few days of the Forth week of Advent is that we have to be open to God’s will, that we have to open our hearts for Jesus’ birth. Christ has to be born again in our hearts even if it is tough to live with His rules. And as Christians we have to give the good example to others, and through our deeds we will be able to open other people’s hearts for Jesus Christ. Amen.

One day, an old monk was walking along the seashore, deep in meditation. Suddenly his eyes fell upon a huge pearl. An old woman saw him pick it up. She ran up to him and demanded that he give her the pearl. He gave it to her cheerfully and with a smile. A week later, the woman found the old monk, and gave him the pearl back, saying: “Give me that which is more valuable than the pearl. Give me that which enabled you to give me the pearl cheerfully and with a smile.”

The old monk then told her about Jesus. He explained how Jesus came into the world to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He came into the world to forgive our sins and to bring us happiness.

This story fits well with the message of today’s Gospel, which reads: God sent … a man named John … to tell people about the light, so that all should hear … and believe.

The monk is a perfect image of John the Baptist. He did for the old woman what John the Baptist did for the people of his day. He testified to the light in the way Jesus wanted. Jesus told us in his Sermon on the Mount, “You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid…. “In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven”

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

That brings us to each of us in this church. By our baptism and by our confirmation we have been called by God. Saint Peter explains our calling this way in his first letter to the Christians of his time, saying: “You are … God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light.”

In other words, we have been called to testify to the light, just as John the Baptist was called to testify to it, and just as the old monk was called to testify to it. We have been called to testify to it, first of all, by our example, by our life. Today’s Gospel challenges you to become for our world what John the Baptist was for his world. Saint John was challenging them to testify to the light.

“Prepare your way… Make ready the way of the Lord” – That was the message before Christ the Messiah was born. Now the message is for us a little bit different. We have to prepare ourselves not only for Christmas when we commemorate Christ birth but we have to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ second coming. There is many ways to prepare ourselves for those events.

One way to prepare our lives, our hearts, our souls for the Second coming of Jesus is to celebrate with Him His presence on this Altar. The altar is the fulfillment of different offerings and sacrifices of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. We can see that people from our Judeo-Christian heritage always gathered around an altar to worship, to celebrate, and to prepare. In the same way the first Christians gathered around an altar to worship, to prepare for the second coming of Jesus.

At first they gathered in small groups. And the altar was very small square table where you could put only a chalice and bread. And that small altar was in their midst. Later when the persecution started they started to celebrate the Eucharist in Catacombs. There wasn’t too much space, so the altar was attached to a grave. When the persecutions were over, Mass was celebrated in churches, and the Christians brought the tradition of heaving relics in the Altar.

My brothers and sisters

You can see the priest at the very beginning of our celebration kissing the Altar. It is reverencing the altar. The altar is for us the most important symbol of Christ in the Church. It is more important than the crucifix.

Why? Because God himself, Jesus himself comes upon this Altar, and because of that we must treat the altar with the greatest reverence. It is not ordinary table, it is extraordinary table. It is not a table to put some objects like flowers, or even candles, not to mention any other things. Only bred, wine and the the Missal, the book of prayers for the Holy Mass belong on the Altar.

When we finish the liturgy of the Word we will start to celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We will prepare the altar, which is already covered with white cloth, symbolizing purity of our hearts. Since the altar of the New Covenant is sacred, symbolizing Jesus Christ, than how sacred should be our souls, how pure to receive Jesus.

Let us go forward to celebrate the Eucharist with our clean and pure hearts and souls, so this way we can prepare ourselves for the second coming of Jesus.

Today we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent. We begin the new liturgical year. During this year we hear the Gospel as told to us by St Mark. But do not think that we hear it the same way as we did three years ago. This is a new year; we are older and hopefully wiser.

We begin our new year with the Season of Advent. It is a season in which we prepare for the celebration of the anniversary of the coming of Christ into our world. It is a season which looks back to that most central of all events; the one which was the effective beginning of our redemption.

But it is also a season which looks forward. It looks forward to the second coming of Christ at the end of time. We already heard last Sunday about the final judgement; in this season of Advent we learn how to prepare ourselves and in the liturgy we express our longing for the Kingdom to come. It is a season in which those words in the Our Father, “Thy kingdom come,” are especially significant

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” In the Gospel selected for today Jesus tells us to be on our guard and to be ready for that day because we cannot know when it will come. All we do know is that the Master will certainly come and that we must prepare ourselves to be ready to greet him.

So, during the next four weeks as Catholics we should not only prepare for Christ Birthday, but for our final day here on earth as well. We have to prepare ourselves For God’s Love. Because out of Love, God gave us a wonderful gift – His only Son to save us. God has revealed his face to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is in our lives constantly guiding and protecting us. He invites us to trust in him and place ourselves in his hands just like clay in the hands of an expert potter.

If we place our trust in him he will surely shape our life and make it a thing of beauty and lasting joy.
How we will respond to Gods Love in our preparation it is up to us. Either we will rush into Christmas and not be prepared for That Big event, or we will change our hearts, and when the time comes we will be ready. We will be ready with our childlike Love, which is so precious because is not faked, or we will want to sleep through Christmas, not wanting to do anything, because our energy was spent on something that was less important than love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain is the story of two boys who lived three hundred years ago in England. Not only were they good friends, they looked so much the same that they could be taken for identical twins. One of the boys was EDWARD, the prince of WALES; the other was TOM CANTY, a pauper, a poor boy.

One day, for some fun, they decided to change places. They changed clothes; Edward put on the rags of a poor boy and wandered through the slums of London, rubbing elbows with beggars and the poor. THOMAS was playing the Prince.

After a time both of them were tired of their game. So, EDWARD, who looked like beggar, tried to tell the police that he was the prince. He was thrown into jail. Somehow, as TOM was about to be crowned king, EDWARD showed up and both of them convinced the officials that Edward was the true prince. As history teaches, and this might be through Edward’s experience, he became a kind and just ruler.

Something like that is the situation between CHRIST and each one of us. Christ is the prince, the true Son of God. In a way Christ has switched places with us who are poor. He clothed himself in our poor flesh. Then Christ made each one of us a prince by clothing us in the robes of His grace, even sharing His own divine life with us.

As God, Jesus knew the sufferings of human beings. By becoming man He actually suffered what men, women, and children have to endure. Like the prince in our story, Jesus learned to love those who are in need of any kind. No wonder Christ, our King, lays down this test for entering His eternal home. He asks each and every one of us: Did you help the needy or did you not?

Today’s Gospel is one of the most important in the teaching of Christ – Good News for those who help the needy, bad News for those who pay little or no attention to the needs of other human beings.

Jesus tells us: Test yourself today. Have you ever fed a hungry person? Perhaps you never met a really hungry child or grown-up. When was the last time you visited someone who was sick? When did you visit someone in prison? And this does not mean only those behind iron bars. It means people behind the bars of being alone, ignorance, and grief. What have you done for those who are spiritually starving, spiritually sick, spiritually strangers, or spiritually imprisoned?

If you have done little or nothing, then you might hear from Jesus: “Go away.” The Gospel goes even further, what you do for these needy you are doing for Christ himself; because Jesus said “I was hungry, thirsty, sick, a stranger.” Christ makes Himself one with those in need.

My brothers and sisters in Christ. Our King is hungry; our King is thirsty; our King is a stranger; our King is sick; our King is in prison. Yes, we serve and worship Christ our King on this altar, but we must also serve and worship Him in His need. Then He will tell us at the end: “Come to me; inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.”

What a wonderful story Jesus tells us today. Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven, spiritual things. But the way he puts it is great, clear, that even enemies of his have to agree with him. Why? Because Jesus tells us today: do your best with what you have and greater chances will be given you. See, Jesus always gives us directions in both our spiritual and secular life.

Small thing are important. Tightening the nuts on the wheel of a car can save a life, collecting garbage is necessary for the health of a community, washing a dish kills germs, etc. As you can see, we already do these hundreds of other tasks of daily life well, not only preventing bad things from happening, but we also create opportunity for the greater things.

This truth is most important in the spiritual life, especially today when the family of God is being asked to get involved in parish life, that is to do whatever you can to help in your parish, so the parish can grow, and that way each and everyone can not only remain well, but grow spiritually too.

My dear parishioners you are investing your talents, time and energy to our parish’s needs. You are helping with the Parish Committee, different activities, taking care for the church; helping as an Altar Server and Lectors. All those ministries are very important. Some of them belong to the liturgy that we celebrate, and some in other, perhaps less visible areas of our parish life. God will certainly count that as good use of the treasures He gave you.

We received many talents, gifts and graces in our lives. Talents which we got from God help us to serve the family, people, and the Church. God Himself is the most precious gift we have received. He entrusted Himself to us. Let us allow Him to increase, to grow in our lives, and the lives of others, so that when He returns expecting our report of what we did with His gifts, He will find in us what is pleasing in His eyes.

Today our society holds little value for prayer, and no value in attending church. Many times it looks like there is no need for God.

Jesus speaks to his disciples and to all of us in a parable. On first hearing this parable we might think that the punishment of the virgins who were excluded from the wedding feast was too big, too severe. However the gospel story is not about forgetting to bring along extra oil for a lamp, but about how we view the invitation, given to all of us, to take our place in the kingdom of God.

If we want to have an eternity of joy, we must to prepare for it with our whole our heart and mind. Jesus teaches this parable as a warning because the day the Lord will return is unknown and could be any minute.

As the year 2000 was coming, there was a lot of speculation about the end of the world. But we truly do not know when the second coming of Jesus will happen.

But let’s say that it will happen today. Are we ready for this event?

There are few things that are certain in our lives. One of them is that each one of us eventually will have to die. To dismiss the thought of death, pushing it to the back of our minds as something to be faced at a later date, is the type of foolishness Jesus condemns in this gospel.

If we live without thought as to where the journey of our spiritual life is taking us, we are not to making the preparations necessary for the coming of the kingdom. Death will catch us unaware, and we will face God. If we are found empty inside, with no oil in our spiritual lamps, the result will be very disappointing.

An essential part of the Christian life is to plant a personal relationship with God which one must posses, work and live, because it cannot be borrowed at the last minute.

The Church gives us directions on how to be prepared for the second Coming of Christ. Christ is always prepared to meet us, so we, for our part, must be prepared to meet him

The Gospel brings home the importance of being ready and prepared while we wait, by loving God – when we come to the Church to praise and worship him, when we study the sacred Scripture, and live God’s teachings with our neighbors and strangers.

By doing so we will be full, our lives and souls will be full like the lamps of the wise virgins. We will be ready for Jesus’ Second coming.

So, let’s take the teachings of God very seriously and put into practice in our daily life, that way we will not be left in the dark as those foolish virgins were. Amen.