Solemnity of Christ the King (Mt 25:31-46)

King with a Difference

Introduction

- Today is the end of liturgical year, with the celebration of Christ the King. The journey through the liturgical year covers all the important mysteries of the redemption, starting from advent and ending with the second coming of Jesus as King and Judge.

- It was very solemnly celebrated in olden days with processions and lots of other celebrations but nowadays its popularity is diminishing. It may be because of the over influence of preparation for Christmas or lack of understanding of the concept “King” in the present times since there are no more kings that rule the nation. Any way it is a very important feast to be celebrated.

- Let us look into the uniqueness of Jesus, The King.

Content

- A King whose friends are poor

o Usually the kings are accompanied by the noble and rich men of the country. But Jesus was always with the poor and who were in search of their basic needs.

o Usually the noble and rich do the recommendation for the ordinary people in front of the king or rulers. In the case of Christ the King, the poor does the recommendation. “God hears the cry of the poor and rescue them” (Ps 34:17), (Lk 1:46-55).

o God destroys the proud and self righteous (Lk 1:46-55).

- A King who walks in front

o Usually the place of the king in a battle is at the back. First he would let the ordinary soldiers wage war and “die”. But in the case of Jesus He always stands at the front in the war against evil and to protect his people. In the Garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, he told the disciples to go and be safe. He was all alone to fight the battle against the evil and he won the battle for us through the resurrection.

o Whenever we feel that our way of life is blocked by some hindrance (anxiety, fear, problems of life, etc.) let us pray to Jesus, our King who walks ahead of us and removes the blocks from our way.

- A Servant King

o Usually the servants wash the hands and feet of the King. But in the case of Jesus He washed the feet of the apostles. He showed us a model of service to follow. How can we serve our brothers and sisters? The answer is clearly given in today’s gospel. The ways to serve are; (seven corporal works of mercy)

1. Feeding the hungry

2. Giving drink to the thirsty

3. Clothing the naked

4. Sheltering the homeless

5. Visiting those in prison

6. Taking care of the sick

7. Burying the dead (it is added later as the seventh corporal work of mercy)

o Bl. Chavara, the founder of our congregation once told to the religious members, ‘if you do not do any of these virtues in any of the day in your life, that day is not counted in your book of life’.

Conclusion

o Let us be the citizens of God’s Kingdom by practicing the corporate virtues in our life, at least one virtue a day. By this we would be preparing our place in heaven.

o We adore a King who is the friend of poor. Let us be poor and simple in our life by avoiding pride. Remember that God hears the cry of the poor.

o Pray to God that let He walk in front of us in our ways of life. He will remove the evil powers from our ways and protect us.

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Parable of Talents (Mt 25:14-30)

The Facts and the Risks in God’s Blessings

Introduction

- Each and every one of us has talents and abilities that are necessary for our life. The talents can be of various types. It can be the ability to play, sing and dance, pray and intercede, console others, positive outlook, health, compassion, spiritual gifts, etc. Even our ability to smile and console others may be a talent.

- The talents may be buried, or increase and use it for selfish interests alone, or develop and use it for the Kingdom of God.

Content

- Three Facts that Jesus teaches us through the parable of talents

1. There is a master

§ The master is God Himself who has entrusted us with talents and abilities.

§ In the parable it is clearly mentioned that ‘He entrusted His possessions to them’. Therefore it is His possessions that we share.

§ Since He is the master each one should be accountable to Him. It happens on the last judgment day when we stand in front of him to give the accounts.

2. He has given us talents.

§ Talents are given according to each one’s capacity and necessity (in the parable the first one received 5, the second 2 and the third 1)

§ Some people are not aware of the talents that they have received from God. It is good to reflect on what are the talents we have received. If possible make a list of them which would lead us to thank Him all the more.

3. Talents are to be developed

§ There are two kinds of people in developing the talents – Risk takers and Care takers. Risk takers (the one who received 5 talents and 2 talents in the parable) develop it, while the Care takers do not.

- Two Risks / Dangers

1. Laziness

§ It can be because of many factors such as not aware of the value of the talents, or our outlook towards like, or fear etc.

§ The basic form of laziness is “I will do it after some time / next day / next time”

§ “Time and Tide wait for none”.

2. Comparison

§ Comparison means comparing what we have with others. It would end up in either unhealthy competition or disappointment or even spiritual blindness.

§ Let us remember the parable. Lord did not entrust His wealth equally. It is done according to the will of God and the capacity of human being. Therefore, stop comparison and thank God for what we have received.

Conclusion

- Let us be the people who accept God as the Master of what we are and what we have.

- Let us be the people who thank God always for the blessings we have received from Him.

- Let us be the people who develop the entrusted talents and use it for the glory of God.

30th Sunday of Orinary times - Love God and Love Neighbor (Mt 22:34-40)

Love God and Love Neighbor

Introduction

- We have in today’s gospel two most important commandments. Which of these is easy to follow? I thought in my childhood days that it is “Love God”, since it is a personal matter without any external signs. There is no external proof whether a person loves God or not. But later I understood that it is the most difficult commandment after reading 1Jn 4:20, (“if anyone says ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen cannot love God, whom he has not seen”), and 1Jn 2:4 (“the man who says ‘I know him’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him”).

Content

- Three dimensions of Love

o Love God

§ "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, this is the first and most important Commandment.

§ Giving first preference to God in our life always. “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”.

§ When we obey this commandment by giving first preference to God, everything else would fall in its exact place in our lives.

o Love Neighbor

§ In the first reading (Ex 22:20) “you shall not oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt”. Who is this “alien”? They are the nameless and faceless people in our society. It can be my aged mother…. Father…. Daughter or son…. Or anybody who feels alienation in our houses.

§ When we love God as our father we have to accept all others as our brothers and sisters.

§ (1Jn 4:20) “if anyone says ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen cannot love God, whom he has not seen”, and (1Jn 2:4) “the man who says ‘I know him’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him”.

o Love Self

§ We begin the lessons of love by loving ourselves. For eg; the baby love itself very much. The baby cries and gets the things that are necessary for him/her. Whenever there is a pain in the body the baby cries – love of the physical body. When the baby feels that nobody is paying attention to him/her the baby cries – meeting the psychological needs.

§ Later when grown up, we attribute all the above said traits to our fellow brethren, that they are the people with material and psychological needs, and self respect.

Conclusion

- True love of God and true love of self would guide us to the “love of our neighbor”.

- Let us measure our love of God by looking at our approach towards others.

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time – The Parable of the Tenants (Mt 21:33-43)

Our Attitude towards ‘What we have’

Introduction

- Story – what do you call a person who steals 100 pesos? – Thief. What do you call a person who steals million pesos? (Expected answer is ‘robber’) the politician.

- News paper is filled with the news of car napping, robbery, snatching, corruption, etc. what is their basic belief?

Content

- “whatever is of others is of mine”

o That car is mine, that chain is mine……

o That basic belief of thieves and robbers

o In the parable of good Samaritan we see a group of them (Lk 10)

- “whatever is of mine is mine”

o Many of us are in this category.

o We work hard and earn money, so it is my own, I can use it as I like.

o My family and property is mine

o What is the opinion of Jesus regarding this? It is expressed in Lk 12: 16-21). Jesus call such people as “fool” in the parable of “rich fool”

- “whatever is of mine is of God’s”

o The right attitude of a disciple.

o Our life, our body, our family, our property, our talents, etc. are not mine but is a gift of God.

o There can be two approaches in this thought pattern as it is stated in the parable of talents in Mt 25: 14-30. First one is “I have to develop it and give back to God”. Jesus calls these mentality servants as “good and faithful servants”. The second is “If it is of God’s why should I work on it”. Jesus called this servant as “lazy servant”.

- Today’s parable tells about a group of people who have the first mentality and never thought that everything is entrusted to them for making it grow and pay it back.

Conclusion

- Which group we belong to?

- Do we want to become ‘thieves’ or ‘fools’ or ‘lazy servants’ or ‘good and faithful servants’?

- If we are ‘good and faithful servants, we would be keen on two things – thanks giving and accountability.

- Let us give thanks to God who is the provider of all things.

- Let us prepare to meet Jesus one day in face to face to give our accounts on those things that are entrusted to our care.