Third Sunday of Ordinary Time – The beginning of Galilean ministry (Lk 4:14-21)

Enjoying and Partaking in the Liberation of the Spirit

Introduction

-          What is the purpose of your life? There can be different answers. Some of them would be:

o   I have never thought of the purpose

o   To make my children a good citizens of tomorrow.

o   To make my country a better place

-          For Jesus the purpose was so clear. He declares it in today’s gospel.

o   It is the message of liberation. 

Content

-          Christ’s mission was to liberate humanity from the bondages, such as

o   From the bondage of physical and mental sickness

§  Healing various people such as blind and leper

o   From the bondages of social evils

§  Injustices (Sabbath), poverty (multiplication)

o   From the bondages of evil spirits

§  Exorcism done by Jesus

o   From the bondages of sins

§  ‘her sins are forgiven’  (Luke 7)

-          Do you need liberation?

o   Our answer may be, ‘yes Lord, but not now’.

§  E.g.: there are patients who do not want to be healed, thinking that they may lose the attention of others.

o   We sometimes find pleasure in the bondages. 

Conclusion

-          Our mission is to

o   Enjoy the freedom of the Spirit, and

§  Closeness to Jesus enables us to enjoy his liberation in our life.

§  Sacraments, prayers and meditation on the word make us closer to God.

o   Help others to enter into the liberation experience.

§  There are people around us suffering from bondages.

·         Deprived of food, money, material things, care, love, etc.

·         Through sharing our having and being, let us partake in the liberation mission of Jesus.

·         Mt 25:35 – ‘When I was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, sick, prisoner, … you took care of me’.

Feast of Sto Nino (Lk 2:41-52)

Live as a Child of God

Introduction

-          It is a special feast that is celebrated on this day only in the Philippines since Sto Nino symbolizes the evangelization of the Philippines.

o   In AD 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his team visited Philippines and converted King Humabon and Queen Juana to Christianity and gave them a statue of Sto Nino as a gift. Later in 1565 this statue was miraculously overcame a fire accident. Now it is in placed in Cebu Sto Nino shrine.

-          This feast recalls to our mind the fact that ‘we are the children of God’

o   Usually children want to grow up to become adults, and the elderly want to become children. That is the irony of life. But in front of God we all are children.

o   Jesus, the Son of God came to this world to make us children of God.

o   In Baptism we were made the children of God. But are we living our vocation?

Content

-          How to live as a child of God? Let us look at what is meant to be a child…. Let us look into the word CHILD

o   C – Care

§  Careful of the situation like a little child. When it encounters a strange situation, it run back to the elders.

§  Take care of others especially children

o   H – Humility

§  The child is ready to accept its weaknesses and limitations. Holding the hands of elders is a symbolic way of acceptance.

§  Sometimes the elders think that with money, power and influence they can do anything they want. They feel they are strong.

o   I – Innocence

§  It is usually said that a child cannot say a lie professionally. He cannot hide anything from his face.

o   L – Love

§  Child loves others without any selfish interests. Love flows from the child’s heart like a river or stream of water. There is no malice in that love.

o   D – Dependence

§  The child knows its limitations. It also knows that it is strong with it’s parents.

§  St Therese of Avila said, ‘without God I can do nothing, but with God I can do everything’.

Conclusion

-          Am I a Child of God?

o   Are we careful of the situations of our life that are sinful and leading us away from God?

o   Are we humble enough to accept our own weakness and depend on God?

o   Are we innocent to open up ourselves in front of God, and to lead an innocent life like a child of God?

o   Do we love each other as Jesus loved, that is forgiving and unconditional?

o   Do we depend on God and realize that without God we are nothing?

-          Let us live the vocation given to us though our baptism – “I am a Child of God”
(Obligation to Fr. James Thayil CMI)

Feast of the Lord’s Baptism (Lk 3: 15-16, 21-22)

Receive and Live Baptism

 Introduction

-          Story of a church where there were many cats – always making disturbance to the ceremonies – many remedies were tried but failed – at last, a priest succeeded in chasing away the cats – when asked, he said, “I baptized them all…. They never came to the church again”.

-          It is sad to notice that around 30 percent of Catholics are the attending the Sunday masses. All others seem to be Christmas or Easter Catholics, coming to the church only once or twice a year.

-          Whatever it is, we cannot ignore the fact that we are baptized in water and the Holy Spirit. 

Content

-          Through baptism we received RICE.

o   R – rebirth

§  Rebirth with water and Holy Spirit.

§  Rebirth as children of God by removing the touch of ancestral sins.

o   I – Initiation

§  Initiation into catholic faith and doctrines.

§  Our uniqueness is our profession of Faith that we profess on every Sunday mass.

o   C – Consecration

§  Consecration is attached to a mission.

§  The mission of Jesus was declared in Lk 4: 18 – ‘appointed to proclaim the good news ….”. We too participate in Jesus mission, to proclaim the good news in today’s context.

o   E – Empowerment

§  Lk 12:12 – Jesus assures the help of the Holy Spirit in our life, for doing our mission.

§  We are never left alone. The same spirit who worked in Jesus is working with in us.

-          The basis of RICE is the grace of God.

o   Grace is unconditional and free.

o   It is no by the merits of us we receive the Grace, but because of the greatness of God.

-          What should be our response to our loving God, the one who filled us with Grace through Baptism, and still continuing through sacraments?

o   Obedience to the His Holy Will.

§  Jesus’ baptism was a declaration of the obedience to the Divine Will. When Jesus declared his readiness the heavens opened and Father declared that ‘he is the beloved son’.

§  When we declare our readiness to do the will of God in our life and do it in our everyday life, Heavenly Father would look at us and repeat the same words, ‘you are my beloved son/daughter, in whom I am well pleased’.

Conclusion

-          We are baptized Catholics and some us have become godparents in the baptism of our godchildren. Let us be aware of the great responsibility to live the baptism and to guide our godchildren in the ways of faith.

-          Let us be the children of God who not only received the sacrament of Baptism but also living the Baptism in our everyday lives.