1. 4th Sunday of Lent-Year C
    Jos. 5:9a, 10-12
    Psalm 34
    2 Cor. 5: 17-21
    Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
    Be the Sacrament of God’s Love and Mercy
    Beloved in Christ,  the scriptural readings today remind me of my ten-year old friend, Rose. She brings girl scout cookies to church every sunday. She comes to me after Mass and either give me the cookies and say “good-job, my friend”  or she will  just show it to me and say: “you are not getting this one today; you are not my friend”. She gives me the cookies only when she thinks I have given a good homily. I am not her friend when the homily is not good; and she does not give me the cookies:-) She never tells me her criteria for a good homily and I am still trying to figure out what exactly a good homily is for Rose:-)  But beloved, are we not all like Rose sometimes in our lives? Our scriptural readings today remind us that such an approach to life is not the way God wants us to live.
    Our first reading today tells us that each of us is called to reveal God’s true nature to the world. That is our vocation. Each of us is called to be the Sacrament of God’s love and mercy. In that reading, we heard that when the people of Israel reached the promised land, the manna (the food that God gave them in the desert ceased). Why did God stop raining down manna from heaven? Because he wanted them to be the bread broken for one another. He wanted them to help feed each other so that they can be like God for one another. In effect, God wanted them to learn to provide for one another the way He provides for them. Beloved, that is our vocation in life: To reveal the mystery of who God is to people. This can only happen when our words and actions reveal to people that we are made in the image and likeness of God! This is the Christian theology of the Imago Dei. Christianity is not just a call to celebrate the sacraments; but also a call to live a sacramental life.
    The parable of the prodigal son, in addition to revealing the unconditional love that God has for all his sons and daughters, teaches us that no human being is totally sinful and no human being is totally righteous. I think in some sense, each one of us has some characteristics of both the elder child and the prodigal son. There are times we are like the prodigal son, but there other times that we are also like the elder son, times when we listen and do as God wants us to do. The good news in the gospel is that God’s love for us does not depend on what we do or fail to do. When you are at your best, God loves you; when you are at your worse God loves you. That is the mystery of God’s love and mercy.  The gospel teaches us that every human being can be lost; but every human being can also be found. If that is the case why do we give up on people? The question I ask myself today is “do I love people only when they are at their best? Does my love fail when people hurt me?
    Beloved in Christ, it's those who are closest to us who will offend us. It is your husband, your wife, your children, your parents, your family, your friends, your teachers, your students, co-workers, and parishioners etc, who will offend you. But it is also these people that we find most difficult to forgive because we have given all our lives to them; so when they offend us it hurts so badly. Maybe you have tried to forgive and the person does not change so you have given up. Forgiveness is like searching for something. It calls for persistent.  My brothers and Sisters, true Love is not possible without forgiveness. Has anyone hurt you? Have you given up on anybody?. God is asking you to search for that person. Will you do it?

    Posted by
    0

    Add a comment

  2. 3rd Sunday of Lent_Year C
    Ex 3:108, 13-15
    Psalm 103
    I Cor. 10:1-6, 10-12
    Lk 13:1-9
    Can God be found in the Desert of My Life?
    Beloved in Christ, there are times in our lives when we go through untold suffering and pain.
    At times, we commit sins that we have vowed never to commit again and we hit so low that we lose faith in ourselves. We have relationships that get broken, hopes and dreams that get crushed. We see our loved ones suffer! We go through sickness and loses that make life seem like a desert and we wonder whether God is still with us. Have you ever felt that way? If so, you are not alone.
    Our first reading today talks about Moses when he faced such a time in his life. Moses was raised as a prince in the palace of Pharaoh in Egypt and had big dreams to save his people from slavery. But as a young man he approached this dream without any guidance from God. Then the worse happened! He killed somebody. He went through so much suffering and persecution that he ran away from his dreams. For forty years, he lost all his honor and the comfort of the palace life. He became almost like a slave taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep in Midian. It was at this point in his life,  when his life seemed like a desert and all hope seemed gone, that instead of giving up Moses decided to hold on to the belief God can be found even in the desert. In that reading God calls himself, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob! What did these men have in common? They knew how  to discern God’s presence even in their suffering and pain.
    The reading uses two symbols that are central to our Christian faith, the desert and fire, to communicate the mystery of God to us. These are symbols that we read about a lot in the Scriptures but we find very difficult to embrace when they become real in our daily lives. The desert in Christian theology symbolises a place of suffering, temptation, desolation, danger, and persecution (Psalms 78 and 102). It’s that time in your life when you feel all hope is gone; when you feel abandoned and alone and you silently ask:  “Where are you God?”.
    St Paul in our second reading tells us that Scripture and all the Christian Symbols and traditions, such as Len,t are meant to give us a lens through which we can understand the presence of God in our daily experiences and embrace his plans for our lives. Our Scriptures and rituals should be a lens for theological reflection.
    The story of Moses teaches us that even the dessert can be a place for pasture where new life can be found. We see that Fire does not always mean destruction, fire can also be a symbol of purification and new life in God’s plan! So when we go through any fire or the desert in our lives, we need to remember what the responsorial psalm today tells us: The Lord has the power to redeem our lives from destruction”. Jesus affirms this in our gospel today when he tells the parable of the fig tree that is given new life at a time when all seems hopeless, according to human reasoning.

    So my sister, my brother in Christ, I don’t know what you are going through this moment in your life. But before you give up, I want you to reflect on this question: Can God be found in this desert that I find myself in right now? Is this God’s way of calling me to something new for the sake of his people? May God help us recognize his presence where we think he cannot be found! Amen!!!

    Posted by
    0

    Add a comment

Blog Archive
Blog Archive
About Me
About Me
My Photo
Loading
Dynamic Views theme. Powered by Blogger. Report Abuse.