From the Pastor

Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”.

After reading today’s Gospel, we can ask this question: Why do some people have a strong faith and others a weak faith? In a way this is almost like asking, why do some people have strong physical health and others do not?
Consider just two possible reasons.

Some people have poor health because their parents did. They inherited a delicate body. On the other hand, some people have poor health because they don’t take care of themselves.

What is true of physical health is also true of spiritual health.

Some people have a weak faith because their parents had a weak faith. They inherit it, so to speak. If parents are lukewarm in their faith, this usually affects their children. On the other hand, our faith may be weak because we neglect it.

This brings us to a second question. Regardless of the reason for our weak faith, what can we do to strengthen it?

First of all, we need to keep in mind that faith is a gift. Having said this, however, it is up to us to dispose ourselves to receive the gift and increase in faith. Disposing ourselves for the gift of faith or an increase in faith is not unlike keeping physically fit. If we don’t eat well or exercise regularly, our body tends to grow weak or sickly. On the other hand, if we eat intelligently and exercise regularly, our body tends to grow stronger and healthier.

Our faith is somewhat like that too. It responds to nourishment and exercise. For example, when we receive the Eucharist prayerfully and live our lives according to the Gospel, our faith tends to grow stronger. Just as we embark on a program of physical exercise to build up our physical health, so we can embark upon a spiritual program to build up our spiritual health.

Our spiritual program begins with living the Gospel – putting into practice the teachings of Jesus.

Let us close with these words of Albert Schweitzer, the great missionary:

Do you want to believe in Jesus?
Do you really want to believe in him?
Then you must do something for him. In this age of doubt there is no other way.
If for his sake you give someone something to eat, or drink, or wear which Jesus promised to bless as though it were done to him, then you will see that you really did it for him.
Then he will reveal himself to you, as one who is alive.

Many times we as humans have doubts and questions like Nicodemus. We even doubt God’s goodness. Especially if something happened to us or to our family. During those times we ask: God, why are you so cruel, don’t you care about your creation? Don’t you love us? If you would love us, you would never allow this to happen to me.

In today’s Gospel we can see that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have eternal life.” So we have evidence that God really loves us. The question is: Do we truly love God? Do we recognize the light which came to the world? Or do we prefer darkness rather than light?

When I taught students in High School I heard many questions: Why do I have to do everything in this or that way? Why do I have to follow the Church teaching? Why does the Church not lighten up and ease some of her regulations?

Because of our free will we need guidance in choosing the light, in choosing the right, in choosing to obey the Commandments of God, the Church’s teachings, Jesus’ way. We need in accepting the right kind of light to triumph over the darkness.

Jesus came into the world to be the light of the world. Light tells the truth, about our age, what we are doing, who we are with, who is missing, what the story is. Light shows all the seams in our lives, where achievement meets failure, and promise meets pain. We may not want to see so clearly; but the presence of Jesus in our midst demands we do.

Because of God’s Love, we received from Jesus a wonderful gift; the gift of reconciliation. If I truly love Jesus, if I truly love the Light, than I would do everything possible to be with Jesus, to be in his light. And we achieve that light during our reconciliation with God.

God already knows what we did; good or bad things. But He wants us to come to him and tell Him all of that. And when He forgives us, we find a clean soul. We live in the Light again.

As we will raise the new Paschal candle in our Church (which symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus from death to new eternal life; from the dark into the Light) on Holy Saturday, in just a few weeks, we will be challenged to keep that light held high into the future.

The challenge is to walk to a future filled with eternal promise, with eternal light, with eternal life. Our opportunity starts today. The choice is ours.

“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God”

Some students were discussing Sunday Mass in their religion class. One boy told how at one Sunday Mass, the adults of his parish had to fill out a questionnaire. When his father came to the question “Why do you go to Mass?” he wrote: “To be a good example to my kids.” The boy said, “I didn’t think that is a very good answer”.

My Dear Sisters and Brothers

Why we come to Mass each Sunday? Let’s take a look at tree major reasons why many Catholics come to Mass Sunday after Sunday.

The first reason is that lot of Catholics come to church for one thing: Not to fulfill an obligation, not to ask God for anything, not to complain to God. They come for only one thing: to give praise and glory to God.

The second reason why we come to Mass week after week is because Jesus is there. Jesus said: “Where two or three come together in my name, I am there”. Jesus is in the Liturgy of the Word. “Whoever listens to you listens to me.” He is in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. At the Last Supper, after sharing his Body and Blood with his disciples, he said, “Do this in memory of me!” And so the second way Jesus is present is in the community of believers, in the reading and explaining of Scripture, in the breaking of the bread: the Eucharist.

A third reason why we Catholics return Sunday after Sunday to celebrate Mass together is because down deep in our hearts, we feel a thirst for God. In the words of the psalmist: As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for you. Like Jesus in today’s Gospel, a zeal for “our Father’s house” and the mystery of God’s love keep us coming back Sunday after Sunday.

And so by way of review, there are three main reasons why we Catholics go to “our Father’s house” each Sunday:

First, to give praise and glory to God. Second, to meet Jesus in the community of believers, the readings of Scripture, and the sacrificial meal of the Lord’s Supper. Third, because there is in us a spiritual hunger and thirst that only God can fill.

In today’s Gospel we heard Peter, James and John experienced something of extraordinary: Transfiguration of Jesus – Change in His appearance.

So many times we want to change our appearance. We would go through so many inconveniences to discipline ourselves to go to gym few times a week to work out; some of us would get up from bad very early in the morning to go for a walk, or for jogging before work. And we would discipline ourselves because we want to stay healthy, because we want to change our appearance.

In today’s Gospel we can see Peter, usually the wise guy, hardly know what to say. And if we would read Chapter 8 we would see that only six day earlier Peter declared Jesus as the Messiah, The Son of the leaving God. And during that time Jesus instituted the sacrament of reconciliation.

Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus knew that we need spiritual change, spiritual transfiguration.

During this time of Lent, time of preparation for Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, we can discipline ourselves, in order to change appearance of our soul. We can do various things to achieve that change of our soul. We can keep our promises which we started at the beginning of this Lent. We can pray together as family, as friends.

My brothers and sisters, as we heard in our second reading: “if God is for us, who can be against us?”, however first we have discipline ourselves to transfigure our soul, so on our part we can be with God. Because if we will be in state of grace, if we will do everything possible to be with God, I assure you God for sure will be with you.

So let’s make every effort to be with God more than one hour per week. “If God is for us, who can be against us.”

Last Wednesday we began the season of Lent which is our preparation for the Easter, for Jesus’ resurrection.

It is a season of forty days, in imitation of Jesus spending forty days in the desert. Jesus fasted in the desert, and overcame the devil’s temptations. In the Gospel for Ash Wednesday Jesus is telling us about prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three things are very important in our lives during Lenten time: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. During Lent, in imitation of Jesus in the desert, let us pray more, fast, and help the poor. We have a lot of people around us who need help. Sometimes we have to look carefully. Many people need food, money, very often only a good word from us. Please remember during Lent the words of Jesus, “Whatever you did to one of the least of these you did to me”. This is our work for Lent.

Fasting is another task the church encourages us to undertake during Lent.

The Bible tells us that fasting from food is not what is important; it is what the fasting symbolizes that really matters. The Bible tells us that fasting from food must go together with fasting from violence and fasting from oppressing people. In other words, when we fast from food it is no use unless we also have a loving and forgiving attitude towards others.

Let’s take the example of Jesus in the desert seriously and make an effort to forgive those who have hurt us. Let us go out into the desert during Lent this year, and say no to the evil temptations to continue committing sin and instead trust in God like Jesus. Let us say like Jesus, ‘Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’.

Prayer is another activity we should reevaluate during Lent. A life without prayer is a life without the joy of God’s presence. If we do not pray we are not proper Christians. Martha was busy serving when Jesus came but Mary spent time with him and Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part”. Lent is not only about helping others, about doing something, it is also very much about the type of person we are. To be better people we need to pray more because all goodness comes from God. God is a loving Father who desires that we allow Him to be close to us. So let us pray more this Lent and experience more of the joy of God in our lives

The word Lent is an old English word which means springtime. May this Lent really be a new springtime in our lives. Through prayer, fasting and help to the others, may we like Jesus in the desert for forty days overcome temptation and thus be well prepared to celebrate Easter.

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?”

In the beginning of my homily today I ask you all, like Jesus did in today’s Gospel “What are you looking for?” Why are you here today?

I believe you are here because of your desire to answer your spiritual calling to grow in the Lord Jesus. You are here because you have a faith; strong believe that Jesus is the Son of God. You are here because Jesus calls you to be his disciples in this world. You are here because you are seeking his blessing, strength, and his help in your spiritual life and in your daily life.

My dear Brothers and Sisters

Today’s Gospel speaks to us about God’s calling. It is revealed to us by the actions of the two disciples of John the Baptist who followed Jesus. John told them: He is the Lamb of God. After this they fallow Jesus. But John tells us a lot more about Jesus: He will take away the sins of the world. He is a man. He comes after me but ranks before me. He existed before me. The Spirit came down on him – resting on him. He is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit. He is the Chosen One of God. We must follow Jesus in order to be saved. He is the Lamb of God, the perfect human sacrifice for the redemption of ours sins. Jesus is our Rabbi, our Teacher. He shows us the way, the truth and the life.

From the Gospel Reading, we also learned how Peter came to follow Jesus. His call came through Andrew who was God’s instrument of grace to call Peter. Throughout the Holy Bible and even in our daily lives, we see how the grace of God works through His chosen people.

So, I ask you again, “Why are you here today? What are you looking for? Are you looking to answer the calling of the Lord?” If you are looking for the way, the truth and the life, then you must fix your eyes on Jesus. You must answer your calling by living holy lives.

When I see your presence here, I rejoice! Why do I rejoice? It is because I know that you are striving to walk in the way, the truth and the life that comes to each and everyone of us through Jesus. Your presence here today is a spiritual sign that the grace of God is at work in all of you. It is a sign that you are desire to participate in fellowship as one in the Body of Christ. It is a sign that you desire to receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life.

As long as you continue to receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist on a weekly basis, although being weak in human nature, there is hope. And as long as there is hope, the grace and mercy of God will not let you down. May God be with you as we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass.

John the Baptist came one day to the Jordan River to begin his ministry of preaching and baptizing. His message was very simple: ”God is about to do something big. Don’t be caught unprepared. Turn from your sins and be baptized”.

There was also something simple about John. People came from all over to hear what he had to say. Soon some people began to wonder. Could this unusual man be the promised Messiah? John answered them: ”One mightier than I, is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.”

John, of course, spoke about Jesus. “I have baptized you with water….He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

John’s point was that his baptism with water was only a baptism of repentance. It was only a “sign” that people who stepped into the river to be baptized by him repented their sins of their past. They wanted to have them washed away and begin new lives.

Jesus’ baptism with Spirit, on the other hand, would be something different. It would be a baptism of rebirth. It would communicate to people the new life they were seeking.

My Dear Sisters and Brothers

The Solemnity of the Baptism of our Lord also speaks to our own baptism. We are baptized into this same Jesus Christ. We become one with Him after our sacrament of Baptism. We are one with the Lord and yet we do not always choose to live from that unity with Him. Today’s solemnity can remind us that we have a power: the grace to live in the Lord if we are baptized.

There are two aspects of living in Christ: dying to ourselves and living in Him. These aspects cannot be separated except in our thinking. As we die to all that is darkness, sin, and brokenness within us, we come to new life in Him.
We are invited today to live our baptism. We are invited today to wonder at the Lord’s baptism. Jesus is baptized unto death. Jesus dies so that we might live. Jesus rises and changes the whole earth.

Let us rejoice in Him.