4th Sunday of Ordinary Time - (Mk 1:21-28) The Power of the Word of God

The Power of the Word of God

Introduction

- Once a catechism student asked the teacher about the power of the Word of God. She told the student to get out of the class. The student was surprised and became sad, but still obeyed the teacher. The teacher called him in and asked why did he go out of the class. The answer was ‘you told me’. Then the teacher told, ‘yes, my words are powerful in this class’. She added, if the president of this institution orders something all the members of the institution obeys it because the words of the president is powerful. If the president of the nation orders something, all the citizens obey it because of the power of his world. If the words of the mortals have this much power, how much will be the power of the one who created everything and sustains it.

- The words of Jesus were so powerful.

o “Go out of him” and the satan obeyed it.

o “Be Calm” and the sea obeyed it.

o “Get up, take your bed and walk”, the paralytic obeyed it.

- Mk 1/22 – “They were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. The difference of the teachings of Jesus were;

o From the heart and not just from the head

o Focused on the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law

o Inspired the people and invited them for a positive change

Content

- On this bible Sunday the church invites to experience the power of the Word. What should we do to experience its power? 1. Word must be read and studied, 2. Word must be reflected and meditate; 3. Word must be experienced and lived

o 1. Word must be read and studied

§ We read many things a day. Word of God should not be one among them but must be read seriously with respect.

o 2. Word must be reflected and meditated

§ Word of God is not a light reading material that is to be ignored after reading. It is so serious since it is the life giving words, the words of our creator. Therefore the Word must be reflected to understanding the message for ‘me’ and has to sink into ‘my’ heart through meditation.

o 3. Word must be experienced and lived

§ There were many spectators for Jesus, but only few experienced the power of the Word. Those who astonished at the power of the Word might not have experienced it. The sick people, those who are in need and took the Words seriously in their life experienced its strength that converted their lives.

Conclusion

- God does not compel any one for anything. Those who desire to have an experience of the Word must take it seriously, find time to read and study, have patience to reflect and meditate, and have desire to practice what is said in the Word.

- Let us be the people who experience the Word.

Feast of Sto. Nino (Child Jesus) – Mk 10:13-16

Be Like Children and Be With Children

Introduction

- This Sunday is the feast of Sto. Nino, a special feast of the Philippines. It is a privilege given to the Philippine by the Vatican, to celebrate the feast of the child Jesus on the 2^nd Sunday of Ordinary time.

- Why do we like children? There can be many reasons for our special love towards children, such as their simplicity, humbleness, innocence, feeling of ‘my child’, helplessness, etc. Child Jesus is different from other children in one aspect. He is not powerless, but the most powerful – the son of God. It is clear from the incident in the temple (Lk 2:39-52). Therefore when we pray to that ‘Child Jesus’ we can be sure that He will grand our petitions.

Content

- The message of this feast may be summarized in two sentences; Be like children and be with children.

- Be like children

o There is a belief that the small children can see angels and the heavenly beings. That may be the reason why the babies smile even without any external stimulation, especially in their sleep. It is because they are so pure in their heart that no malice has entered in.

o When we grow we lose the purity. Our heart and mind fill with impure things such as envy, jealousy, lust, revenge, crookedness, and many other vices.

o Jesus told, “Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mt 10:15). Therefore in order to enter into God’s Kingdom we should be like children.

- Be with children

o Children are entrusted to our care. It is the duty of the adult to bring them up in proper manner.

o By looking at the people who were bringing children to Jesus, he said, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them” (Mk 10:14). Our duty is to bring children to Jesus, both physically (by bring them to the church) and mentally (by motivating them to pray).

o Jesus warns (Mt 18:10), ‘see that you do not look down on one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my father in heaven’. In Mk 9:42 Jesus reminds us, ‘if anyone causes one of these little ones to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea…’.

o We have to bring children to Jesus through our words and deeds, through our good examples. Remember that children are very good observers. They learn the things by keen observing how elders are doing.

Conclusion

- Let us be good children of our heavenly Father by being like children and by being with the children.

Feast of Epiphany (Mt 2:1-12)

Journey with the Three Kings

Introduction

- Epiphany means manifestation or appearance. Jesus is manifested as the light of the whole world, especially of the gentiles.

- Epiphany is celebrated in some of the eastern catholic groups much more solemnly than December 25. The theology behind the solemn celebration is as follows; On the December 25^th Jesus is revealed to the Jews as their savior. On that day the reading are of the shepherds and how they saw Jesus. Thus we travel with the shepherd to the manger to adore Jesus, who is the savior of the Israel. Whereas on the day of Epiphany Jesus is revealed as the light of the whole world. We travel with the eastern kings who were gentiles, to visit Jesus, the light of the world. Since they are ‘gentiles’ and ‘of the east’, they thought, it would be more meaningful to celebrate epiphany than December 25.

- We are also ‘gentiles’ and ‘eastern’. Therefore it is an important feast for us.

Content

- Let us journey with three eastern wise men to meet Jesus. Let us go through the different stages of their journey.

o They observed the sign

§ They were specialists in observing the sky and found out the ‘special light’, a ‘divine star’.

§ To begin our journey we should have the capacity of ‘observing’. We should observe what is happening in our lives, in our family, and in our relationships. Then we will find the presence of God, the divine light which is the gift of God. We, then, will begin to realize the gifts of God in our life. In fact each moment of life is a gift from God.

o They began their travel

§ They left everything that they had and began their journey to see Jesus. Leaving behind the things and the security that we have, “our self”, is a must in the travel to find our Jesus.

§ Our prayer time is a travel in search of the Divine, a travel into our own inner being to find out the Divine presence within us. The holy Eucharist is a journey where we receive Jesus at the Holy Communion.

§ There may be difficulties in our travel, like what happened to the three kings in the palace of King Herod. It can be called ‘the dark night of the soul’ according to St. John of the Cross. It can be overcome by our consistency in our spiritual exercises.

o They found Jesus and offered Him the gifts

§ They adored Jesus and offered the gifts when they finally reached at the presence of Jesus.

§ What are the gifts that we have to present to Jesus? Is it gold, or frankincense, or myrrh as the three kings presented? It is our own self or our total being.

§ It is a total surrender of our will to His will.

§ After surrendering we would say with St. Paul, ‘it is no longer I who live, it is Christ who lives in me’ (Gal 2:20).

o They returned through another way

§ “Another way” is an important phrase to be noted.

§ After meeting Jesus transformation take place in us, it makes us in to a better person.

§ It is a call to improve our self, our relationships, our character and our behavior; and to go back to our home/working place/class rooms/ communities.

Conclusion

- Let us follow the three wise men to Jesus by observing, traveling, meeting and returning from Jesus to our ordinary life situations.

- Let this experience may guide to renew our lives.

New Year message

Bye to Past and Welcome the Future…

Introduction

- One of the oldest holiday or holy day we know in the history of the human race is New Year. The earliest records we have are five thousand years ago. At one point the ancient Romans celebrated New Year’s by breaking branches off of what they considered sacred trees and giving branches to one another in exchange for “Happy New Year.” A little later, they began to exchange coins. These coins had the face of the god Janus on them. Janus is where we get the word “January.”

- The one special thing about the god Janus is he is two-faced. He has a face looking at the past and a face looking at the future. That is why the god Janus became the symbol of New Year where, just as we are tonight, we look at the past and at the same time, we look to the future.

Content

- It is the time to look at the past and to the future, to the year 2011 and to the year 2012.

- How to look at the passing year 2011? We should have three attitudes towards the year 2011;

1. Gratitude

§ Giving thanks to God for all the blessings, whether it is big or small, that is received in our lives. It may be a new relationship, or a new house, or a new car, or a new born baby etc.

§ With Psalmist let us pray (Psalm 95:1-6) - "Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

2. Patience

§ In the past year there are lot of things that happened on which we still ponder on. We still ask the question “why it happened in my life?”. It is because the plan of God is slowly unfolding. It takes to time for us to understand in its fullness. Therefore what we have to do is to wait patiently.

§ The example for such waiting is Mary. When she heard the things that were said by the shepherds and the magi about her child she could not grasp it fully. (Lk 2:19) “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart”.

3. Forgiveness

§ There may be many mistakes that we commited during the past year. It may be intentional or blunders. It might has caused lot of damages in our life. It can be sins that caused others to suffer.

§ We may not be able to do anything with the past mistakes of ours, except forgive. Let us forgive ourselves. If the mistakes are grave and sinful, let us confess in the sacrament of reconciliation and get the pardon of the Lord.

- How to welcome the New Year 2012?

1. Hope

§ Hope guides us to a bright future, hope that everything will be fine in the New Year.

§ Let those who suffer from sickness may think they will healed in this year, those who suffer from broken relation hope that it will solved in this year, those who have low grades in their studies hope that they will compensate in this New Year…

§ Hope should follow decisions and resolutions. Let us take firm decisions for our life for the betterment and growth.

2. Prayer

§ If we travel with God we would see the difference.

§ Hold the hand of the divine and walk into the New Year.

§ Pray every day so that whenever we feel we are week, we receive the strong support of the divine.

§ Ask the prayers of others, because the intercessions are ways to God’s blessings.

§ Receive sacraments often, because they are the source of grace of God.

Conclusion

- Let gratitude, patience and forgiveness be our guiding stones to think of the past.

- Let hope and prayer be our light for the future.

- Wish you all a blessed and prosperous new year 2012.