SPEAK WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN AND HEARD!
April 22, 2018
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

Chapter 4 of the Acts of the Apostles starts out by telling us that “… as (Peter and John) were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the SADDUCEES came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.” It seems that an amazing thing is happening in the city of Jerusalem. Thousands of people are turning from their Jewish beliefs to embrace a man named Jesus Christ, Acts 2:41; Acts 4:4. Of course, this is upsetting to the leaders of the Jewish people. Two of the ringleaders Peter and John are arrested, 4:3, and called to give account for their actions and for the radical, new message they are preaching. To fully understand these verses, we need to look back for just a moment. In chapter 3, Peter and John were going up into the Temple to worship at the time of the evening sacrifice, about 3 PM. As they were passing through the Beautiful Gate, they met a crippled man who had been laying there so that he might beg for some coins from the people who were headed to the Temple to worship. Instead of giving this man a few coins and passing right on by, Peter takes him by the hand and heals him in the name of Jesus. When the people, who knew this was the lame man, see him leaping and jumping and praising God, they gather and inquire as to what is going on. Peter seizes this opportunity to tell them about Jesus. While he is preaching, the leaders of the people, the Sanhedrin, come on the scene to see what is this all about. When they hear Peter preaching about that Jesus Whom they had crucified they are furious. When they hear that Peter is claiming that this Jesus arose from the dead, they are absolutly furious and they arrest the two preachers. The people were filled with wonder, and as Peter preached in such a way as to turn their attention away from the Apostles to Christ, another five thousand men were added to the congregation that day (Acts 4:4).

After spending the night in jail, Peter and John are brought before the council to explain their actions to the council. We are told in 4:7 that this question is asked, "By what power, or by what name, have you done this?" Friends that was the wrong question to ask a Spirit-filled preacher, an uneducated fisherman! That question opened the door for Peter to preach a fresh message to these Jewish leaders. It was a message all about a man named Jesus. The name of Jesus is a name that thrills the souls of the believer. A name at which the devil trembles, a name that gains man access to the God of Glory, a name that moves mountains, a name that opens the door to the blessings of God, a name that is above every name, a name that causes sinners to bow in repentance. Jesus Christ means "Anointed One". This name identifies Jesus as the Messiah. He is seen as the fulfillment of all the promises of the Old Testament. He is: Genesis - The Seed of the Woman, Exodus - The Passover Lamb, Leviticus - The High Priest , Deuteronomy - Prophet like unto Moses, 1 Samuel - The Faithful Priest, 1 Chronicles - The Ark of the Covenant, Nehemiah - The Awesome God, Psalms - King of Glory, Ecclesiastes - The Giver of Life and Breath, Isaiah - The Suffering Servant, Jeremiah - The Lord our Righteousness.

There is a parallel between the persecution of Jesus upon the healing of a man ‘blind from birth’ (John 9:1), and the persecution of Peter and John upon the healing of a man ‘lame from his mother's womb’ (Acts 3:2). There was a division of opinion about Jesus on both occasions (John 10:20-21; Acts 4:21).It was the content of this preaching, as much as anything else, which had aroused the anger of the Temple authorities. Peter and John were arrested and spent the night in prison (Acts 4:3). The next day the two Apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:5) - the same court which had arraigned Jesus and handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified. The high priests Annas and Caiaphas were there (Acts 4:6), who had both figured in the trial of Jesus. Now Peter and John were being called to account for the healing of a lame man, and for preaching in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Jesus told His disciples, ‘The servant is not greater than his Lord’ (John 13:16). ‘If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you’ (John 15:20).‘And when they bring you to trial before rulers and powers, don’t worry about what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say’ (Luke 12:11-12). ‘For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you’ (Matthew 10:20). This accounts for the change in Peter, who had gone from a quivering mess at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, to the rock-like character portrayed in the name which Jesus had given him (cf. Matthew 16:18).

Filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8), Peter first pointed out the absurdity of bringing men to trial because of an evident healing (Acts 4:9). Then he accused his accusers of crucifying Jesus and proclaimed that the lame man stood before them healed exactly because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:10)! Peter reminded them of a song that would have been on their lips at the time of the festival: “The stone which you builders rejected has become the head stone of the corner,” (Acts 4:11; cf. Psalm 118:22). Confronting the council with their guilt in rejecting Jesus, Peter again used the healing as an opportunity to proclaim the much fuller salvation which is found in the Savior’s name (Acts 4:12). The court was astonished at the courage of Peter and John. These two men had not been to any of their Rabbinic schools of theology, yet stood before them courageously with the proof of the healed lame man. Peter and John were sent away while the court deliberated (Acts 4:13-15). The fact of the matter is that Peter and John's would-be accusers could do nothing. The miracle was undeniable. So they warned Peter and John not to preach any more in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:16-18). The Apostles' response set a precedent in civil and ecclesiastical disobedience: ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard’ (Acts 4:19-20).

This is the third time that Peter has used the formula, “Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God has raised from the dead” (Acts 2:23; Acts 3:15; Acts 4:10). Dear brothers and sisters there is a connection between healing, salvation, and Jesus’ resurrection, for there is no  other name under heaven given to us, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

ARE YOU LIVING THE RESURRECTION EXPERIENCE?
April 15, 2018
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

At some point we have to move from the event of the Resurrection to experiencing the Resurrection. Experiencing resurrected life begins with recognizing the risen Christ among us. That is the gift of Easter and it is also the difficulty and challenge described in today’s Gospel. Cleopas and his companion are telling the other disciples how Jesus appeared to them on the road to Emmaus when Jesus, again, shows up out of nowhere, interrupting their conversation. “Peace be with you,” He says. They see Him, they hear His voice, but they don’t recognize Him. They “thought that they were seeing a ghost.” They know Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. Though Jesus had predicted His death and also the resurrection a few times before His death their messianic theology has no place for suffering, death and resurrection, they were thinking only of a conquering messiah. So when He died they gave a proper burial for their master whom they loved, Jesus’ dead body was wrapped in fine linen and spices. They know dead men don’t come back to life.So this can only be a ghost, a spirit without a body. How can a man come to a room which is locked, only ghosts can do that, it this sort of a natural reaction that has happened before when Jesus was walking on the water, they said it is a ghost otherwise who can walk on water. The tomb is open but their minds are closed.

They are unable to recognize the holiness that stands among them. They already heard from the woman who came to report the tomb empty, they met the angel who told them that Jesus is risen but it does not look like they believed it first of all in those women ‘s testimony was not accepted in the court in that society. Resurrected life can never be comprehended, contained, or controlled by human thought or understanding. Jesus’ resurrection compels us to step outside our usual human understandings of reality and enter into the divine reality.

That new reality of this Gospel begins with touching and seeing the flesh and bones, hands and feet, and broiled fish that He ate. Jesus said to His disciples, “Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Then, “He showed them His hands and His feet.” After this He ate a piece of broiled fish in their presence. The very same flesh and bones, the very same hands and feet, appeared to Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus and then “vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:31), and now show up unannounced and unexpected in the midst of their conversation with others. Jesus’ hands and feet, His flesh and bones, passed through walls and locked doors.The resurrected life of Christ, it seems, is revealed in and through the created order. It is not, however, bound by the created order. Rather, the resurrected body and life of Christ unite the visible and invisible, matter and spirit, humanity and divinity. On the one hand Jesus has a real body. On the other hand it is not subject to the natural laws of time and space. It’s not one or the other. It’s both. It is a new and different reality.

The resurrected life of Christ reveals that all creation and every one of us are filled with God, holiness, and divinity. Nothing can bind or supercede the grace that is given to us through resurrection: unconditional love, unconditional forgiveness, unconditional life. That is, I think, one of the most difficult things for us to see, believe, and live into. It is, however, the divine reality into which we are invited, not at some future time and place but here and now.

Christ our God longs and desires to open our minds to understand the scriptures, to understand all that has been written, spoken, and revealed about Him in whatever form and whatever has happened. That’s what Jesus did for the disciples and it’s what He does for us. This is not an academic or intellectual understanding. That the disciples are witnesses does not mean they now have all the answers. It means they now have the life Jesus wants to give them. They are witnesses based not on what they know, but on who they are, how they live, and their relationship with the risen Christ. This is not a rejection of the natural order. It is allowing the natural order to open to and reveal something more. That’s what happened for the disciples with Jesus’ hands and feet, with His flesh and bones, and the broiled fish. They saw and recognized something about Jesus, and in so doing they saw and recognized something about themselves; holiness. It happens for us too.

Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is calling us to see and recognize Him, to join Him, and to discover our new life. This is the authentic self we long to become, the self that we already are, and the self we are becoming. This is resurrected life. Let’s not lose this moment. Let’s not put this text behind us. It is much too easy to come here each Sunday, listen to the Gospel and to carry this text with you over the next week. Let it open your eyes, your heart, and your mind to the life Christ is offering you. Let it be the voice of Christ opening your mind to understand. Sit with it. Pray with it. Wrestle with it. Trust it. “You are witnesses of these things,” He says to us as He said to His disciples. Tell it. Live it. Become it. The resurrected life is yours. You are witnesses.

LET HIM RESURRECT IN YOUR HEART
April 8, 2018
Deacon Dennis Walters

It makes sense that, on this Octave of Easter, we should commemorate Divine Mercy. After all, we have just celebrated the greatest act of divine mercy toward humankind in history. And, by continuing its celebration on the Octave, or the eighth day of Easter, the Church is following an old custom — older even than Christianity. The Law of Moses commanded that certain major feasts would be celebrated for an entire week, and be concluded by a special liturgy. For example, the Feast of Tabernacles, which comes on the fifteenth day of Tishri (late September), began with a sacred assembly, and ended with a special water-drawing ceremony in the Temple eight days later. Likewise, the feast of Passover began on the 15th of Nisan (late March or April) and lasted seven days as the feast of Unleavened Bread, ending on the octave with a special holy day.

For centuries, the Sunday after Easter was simply called Low Sunday, a kind of miniature Easter which ended the week of celebration. At the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II specified that this Sunday would commemorate God’s Divine Mercy with special devotions, including a Holy Hour and recitations of theChaplet of Divine Mercy. Why all this attention to Divine Mercy following Passiontide? In a way, the Divine Mercy devotion is an extension of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in which the image of Jesus’ heart — pierced, surrounded by a crown of thorns, and surmounted by a flame — symbolizes how His love demonstrated itself on the cross. The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart nineteen days after Pentecost. The Divine Mercy image, commissioned by Jesus through St. Faustina, shows how His love and mercy radiate outward from His heart upon the whole world. Visually, the white and red rays represent the water and blood that came from Jesus’ sidewhen His heart was pierced with the lance. The pale ray symbolizes the water of baptism, which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the blood that gives life, and can stand for the sacrament of the Eucharist. The caption at the bottom indicates our response: Jesus, I trust in You. The point is to drive home that the whole Paschal Mystery is an ongoing reality; that the gush of blood and water that St. John saw coming from Jesus’ side is being poured out on us today, and we can claim it.

Historically, devotion to the Divine Mercy arose in Poland just when Poland was most in need of it. According to Faustina’s diary, Jesus first showed her this image in 1931. Aided by her spiritual director, she had it painted in 1933, around the time that Hitler was consolidating his power in Germany. Faustina was aware that Poland was in danger, and asked her sisters to pray for the country. And, as we know, World War II began with the German invasion of Poland in September, 1939. God’s mercy can sometimes be pretty severe. For six years German forces ravaged Poland with the express goal of exterminating the entire country. Far from being rescued at the end of the war, Poland had to endure another occupier for over forty years, a Communist puppet state, whose aim was to stamp out any vestige of religious faith. But God’s mercy was not idle during that time. Starting within the German occupation and working doggedly through the Communist years, Father — then Bishop — then Cardinal Karol Wojtyła and many others surrounding him worked to preserve Polish culture and to maneuver a hostile government into granting the people their desire for God. And when Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II, over a period of eleven years the entire Communist edifice gradually crumbled and fell. Poland is today one of the most solidly Catholic countries in Europe. Her trust in Jesus was rewarded.

We sometimes think that God’s mercy toward us is virtually automatic, just part of Christian experience. Much of the good luck you and I have is a direct result of God’s mercy in our lives. A chance meeting results in an unexpected job opportunity. A notice on the prayer chain results in a miraculous cure. A desperate prayer for financial help is answered by anonymous donations. Saying, “Jesus, I trust in you” is easy. But, as Poland’s story illustrates, obtaining mercy can be hard going and involve a strenuousdetermination to claim it. Very often, mercy begins to work in us through tragedy, disaster, or loss. A church smug in its faith finds its clergy accused of sexual misconduct and realizes the need to repent and reform. A man loses his wife and in his grief finds his faith.

Mercy can be a strict disciplinarian. Mercy is not something we can take for granted. The fact that God loves us doesn’t mean we can presume on that love, that we’re automatically saved. The Latin word for mercy is misericordia, which combines Latin words for heart and wretchedness. It means an appeal to God from a heart that recognizes its own misery. Faustina’s diary records that Jesus frequently reminded her that His love for her was infinitely greater than her wretchedness. She wasn’t insulted by that, and neither should we be. We’re sinners. Mercy is most available to us when we own that. Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner, because I trust in You!

LET HIM RESURRECT IN YOUR HEART
April 1, 2018
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

Today, we celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The hours after the death of Jesus were a hopeless time for His disciples and for the others who followed Him. • They expected great things from Jesus. • They had placed all their faith and their hopes in Him. • They believed that He was the long-awaited Messiah, Who would deliver them from their Roman oppressors. They got these idea from Jesus Himself because He told them that He was the Son of God. • He told them that He was the Messiah. • He told them that He would bring salvation to the world. He showed them within that 3 years of public life all kinds of signs to prove that He is the fulfillment of the prophecies, giving sight to the blind, feeding the hungry, casting out demons. Yet, just a few days ago, many of His followers watched Him die a horrible death on a Roman cross. Others saw His body anointed with spices, wrapped in linen, and sealed in a tomb. It was over. He is dead. He is gone. And, all their hopes had been buried with Him. It was a time of hopelessness, of shattered dreams, of broken hearts and utter sadness.

I want you to see that in this most extreme case of hopeless criminal death, our God proves Himself to be more than adequate. Let’s watch Him as He teaches us once again that there is hope for the difficult times in our life, there is hope for new life from this natural and miraculous evidence of Our Lord’s resurrection.  

This passage opens with a group of brokenhearted women moving through the stillness of an early Jerusalem morning. They are on their way to visit the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea where Jesus is buried. Mark’s Gospel gives us a little more insight into their mission that morning. He says, they “had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him.” When Jesus died on the cross, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea anointed the body with spices and ointments, and wrapped it in linen cloths before placing it in Joseph’s tomb, John 19:38-42. These women now make their way to a tomb to finish preparing the body of the man they called Lord for burial. The women have no hope. Jesus is dead, and as far as they are concerned, nothing will ever change that. But these women simply want to do what they can for the Lord. They wanted to make sure that He has a proper burial. So, their mission is a sad one, because they genuinely loved the man in the tomb. He had blessed their lives. He had taught them truth. Their lives were vastly better off because they had spent time with Jesus. In the case of Mary Magdalene, the man in the tomb had radically changed her life. He had delivered her from bondage to devils. On their way they were worried also about who would roll the stone away from the tomb, and worried about what kind of troubles the Roman soldiers who guard the tomb would create.

When this little group of sad woman arrived at the tomb, nothing was as they expected it to be. They expected to find a tranquil cemetery. Instead, they found an angel with news from Heaven about the tomb and the man Who had been buried there. It looked like there was an earthquake, and they saw a group of Roman soldiers lying around the tomb, passed out on the ground. This angelic messenger took care of two major problems for these ladies. He removed the two greatest physical fears they had as they made their way to the tomb. 1.  He Removed the Stone -  They knew that Nicodemus and Joseph had sealed the mouth of  the tomb with a giant round stone the day they had buried Jesus. One problem taken care of! 2. He Removed the Soldiers - Another problem they faced was a company of Roman soldiers Pilate had sent to guard the tomb. Apparently, the Jewish religious leaders and been listening to what Jesus had preached. He said that He would be crucified, be buried, and that He would rise from the dead three days later. So, the Jews went to Pilate and asked him to secure the tomb. They didn’t believe that Jesus would rise from the dead, but they did believe that His disciples would steal the body and tell everyone that He had come back from the dead. All of this is detailed in Mt 27:62-66. But, when the angel showed up, these hardened Roman troops fainted and fell to the ground as if they were dead men. Another obstacle removed

 The angel did more than just take care of some physical obstacles. He also shared some much needed spiritual truth. The next words from the mouth of the angel must have struck the hearts of those shocked women like a bolt of lightning. He said, “Yes, Jesus died on the cross three days ago, but He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.” The angel invites the women to “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” They are invited to walk into the tomb and see for themselves that Jesus is gone. The important thing here is that the tomb is empty. That tomb was used, but only for three days, because the man Who was buried there got up and walked out. That single announcement, “He is not here for He is risen,” changed everything forever. His death on the cross paid the price for sin, but His resurrection from the dead provided eternal life for all. If you are looking for a reason to rejoice, then rejoice in the fact that God loved you so much that He gave up His only begotten Son to be your Savior on the cross.

 My friends, we have every reason in the world to worship Him today. Think of it:•  He came into this world as a baby. God was made flesh and lived among us. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us•  He laid aside heavenly glory and riches to live in poverty, so that we, through Him, might be rich, 2 Cor 8:9.•  He suffered a horrible death so that our sins could be forgiven and so we could be saved, Is 53:4-6; Rom 10:9; 13.•  He rose from the dead to give us eternal life, 1 Cor 15:20-23.•  He ascended into Heaven to prepare a place for us, Acts 1:9-10; John 14:1-3.•  One day He is coming to get us to take us home, 1 Thes 4:16-18.

What began as a morning of sadness and sorrow was transformed into a morning of joy, praise, peace, and salvation. The women who went to that tomb so defeated and broken, left there excited and filled with the joy of the Lord. That’s the power of His resurrection.•  Today would be a good day for the lost soul to come to Christ. He died to save us and He rose again to give us eternal life. Come to Him and let Him resurrect our hearts and give us new life in Him!

PUT YOUR FAITH AND TRUST IN JESUS
March 25, 2018
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

This is the beginning of Holy Week – the triumphal procession of palm branches and shouts of Hosanna followed by the procession with the cross to Calvary accompanied with the shouts of "Crucify Him!" What is it that turned a day of praise and shouts of joy, a day when palm branches were waved to welcome a King, to a day of hatred, scorn, ridicule and shouts calling for the death of a man who had done nothing but good? What had Jesus done that the people of Jerusalem should change their opinion of Him? One day they love and respect Him, and a few days later, they show nothing but scorn and contempt. Why, in such a short space of time, did people start to call out for the blood of Jesus, wanting Him crucified? Why did people suddenly want Jesus to suffer the crucifixion reserved for their worst enemies? During that last week, Jesus had a meal with Simon; there in his house He showed love to the woman who anointed Him with expensive perfume. He probably made people angry when He drove out the moneychangers and merchants from the Temple.

Jesus attracted crowds wherever He went. They came from near and far to see Him, to witness the amazing things He was doing, to hear His words about love for God and other people. But in any crowd – then and now – you get two kinds of people – the believers and the doubters. Jesus not only inspired wonder but also anger. For example: When Jesus healed the man born blind by making mud with dirt and spit and anointing his eyes with it, some believed it to be a great miracle and believed that indeed Jesus was the Messiah. There were also those who did not believe. They kept questioning the healed man, and his parents, and his neighbors. And then they accused both the man and Jesus of being agents of the Devil.

And we find in the Gospel account how a crowd was influenced by a small group of people who were opposed to Jesus. This small group of religious leaders felt threatened by Jesus’ popularity. Their religious sensitivity had been upset by the claims of Jesus that He was the Messiah, the Son of God and His disregard for church laws by healing on the Sabbath. They could not see how a simple carpenter from Nazareth could be who He claimed to be. They were especially angered when they saw the crowd of people cheering Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem; their "hosannas", calling Him David’s son, and hailing Him as a king was all too much. And so, we hear how this small group changed the crowd’s opinion of Jesus. Matthew records, "The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to set Barabbas free and have Jesus put to death" (Matthew 27:20).

What may have started with a few voices calling out to Pilate to crucify Jesus, ended with the whole crowd calling out for the death of Jesus. Mark records, "The chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask that Pilate set Barabbas free for them. Pilate spoke again to the crowd, ‘What, then, do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?’ They shouted back, ‘Crucify Him!’ ‘But what crime has He committed?’ Pilate asked. They shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify Him!’" (Mark 15:11-14). Even the Roman Governor was pressured by the crowd to believe that Jesus was guilty. And so Pilate released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed Him over to be crucified. The crowds turned out on Sunday to shout "Hosanna", and they turned out on Friday to shout, "Let Him be crucified!"

And here today with the church decorated once more with palm leaves, we are happy to join with the crowd of long ago and sing heartily, "Hosanna." We have cheered with the crowd that cheered for Jesus - and rightly so - for Jesus deserves all our cheers. We join the cheering crowd because Jesus loved sinners, lepers, and tax collectors. We cheer with the crowd because He helped people in their time of sickness, grief, and death. We join the cheering crowd because of His love that reaches out no matter who we are or what we have done. We cheer because God has saved us. But we also cheer with a heavy heart because we know what is to come. We know that Jesus suffered and died because of the insistence of the crowd that Jesus should die. Jesus died on the cross because of the crowd and for the crowd. We are part of that crowd. The song that we sing asks the question, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed Him to a tree?" The answer is yes, a definite yes. We may not have been there physically but it was our sin that nailed Him to the cross. It was because of our sin that He endured so much suffering. With the weight of the sin of all humanity bearing down on Him, He calls out, "It is finished". God's work of salvation is complete.

Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday are two sides of the same coin. They are two sides of the faith God wants you to have in your life. Rejoice and sing as Jesus comes into your life! Weep and mourn as His death confronts you with your sin. Yes, we were there in the crowd on both days, shouting ‘Hosanna!’ and later ‘Crucify!’ Because of what Jesus has done for us and our faith in Him, one day we will be in that great crowd gathered around the throne of God, and there everyone will shout words of praise, heavenly hosannas, that will ring through all eternity, "To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!" Rev (5:13). Amen.

PUT YOUR FAITH AND TRUST IN JESUS
March 18, 2018
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal
 

Jesus receives word that His friend Lazarus is “sick.” Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, are concerned about their brother, so they send word to Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. Their request says a lot about how they viewed the Lord. They recognized His compassion. They believed that He cared about their family, and that He cared about Lazarus. So, it was logical to conclude that He would come and help them in their time of need. They also recognized His identity. In verse 27, Martha declares that she believes Jesus is the “Son of God.” These sisters had probably seen Jesus heal others, now they look to Him, the Son of God, to come and heal their brother. 

The request made by Mary and Martha speaks to us as well. Their request reminds us that Jesus Christ is to be the first resort in any time of trouble. When difficulties arise in life, we are to turn to Him for the help we need. That is what the Bible teaches, “And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive,” Mt 21:22. When Jesus hears their urgent request, He reacts in a surprising manner. Jesus stays where He is for two more days. Regardless of the Lord’s reasons for His delays, Mary and Martha were forced to watch Lazarus die. They were forced to wash his body, prepare it for burial, and lay it in a tomb. They were forced to feel pain, heartbreak, sorrow and doubt. They were forced into an impossible situation. That’s how it goes sometimes, isn’t it? You bring your problem to the Lord, and what you receive in return is silence. You call on Him, expecting Him to answer your prayers and meet your need, and all you get in return is nothing. In fact, sometimes the problems just get worse. Sometimes situations turn desperate. Sometimes you need an answer today, but that answer doesn’t come today, or even tomorrow. Here is what we need to remember in the times of divine silence: The Lord was able to see what the sisters and the disciples could not see. He was able to see beyond the crisis of the moment to the glory God would receive through the crisis. He knew what was on the other side of the pain, the problems and the pressure. He knew the outcome before the crisis even reached its peak. 

God knows more about our situation than we do.•  “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good,” Prv 15:3.•  “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do,” Heb. 4:13. Our duty is to learn to trust Him, even when we cannot figure out what He is doing and why He is doing it. The Lord knows the outcome of our crisis before our crisis is even born. Our sole duty in regard to waiting on the Lord is summed up in the words of Jesus in Mk 11:22, when He said, “Have faith in God.” In Jn 14:1, He said it this way, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” The Psalmist said in Ps 62:8, “Trust in Him at all times; you people, pour out your heart before Him: God is our refuge.” 

In the verses 21-22 we see the ‘Problem of Doubt’ that we all face in our faith life- their pleas had been unanswered and they were defeated, discouraged and distressed. When they did talk to Jesus face to face, they both brought up the problem that plagued their minds. When they said, “Lord, if thou had been here, my brother had not died,” they were simply asking, “Why didn’t you come? We thought you loved us! Where were you when we needed you the most.” I understand a little of what they felt, don’t you? It is easy to get discouraged when the Lord doesn’t do things our way, in our time. It may be some physical ailment that has you filled with fear; it may be the fact that you know you are lost, and you don’t want to die in that condition and go to Hell; it may be lost children, or other family, and you fear for their salvation; it may be some financial need that’s not being met; it may be the pain of betrayal, or of a broken heart. Many believers lose the battle right here! They will get mad at God when He doesn’t do as they say, and some will even give up on Him. When people give up on God, they usually miss the greatest of His miracles! It’s always too soon to quit! 

The Lord has always been able to walk into our hopeless cases and give us hope through His promises. The Lord’s promises are not limited to the realm of death. His promises encompass all of life and give us hope regardless of what we face. Notice a few of His precious promises for our hopeless cases.•  There are promises about salvation - Jn 3:16; Acts 16:31; Rom 10:9, 13.•  There are promises about sin - Ps 103:12; 1 Jn 1:9.•  There are promises about the future - Rev 21:4; Jn 14:1-3.•  There are promises about trouble - Phil 4:6-7; 1 Pt 5:7•  There are promises about loneliness - Heb 13:5; Mt 28:20.•  There are promises about peace - Jn 14:27; Phil 4:6.•  There are promises about needs - Mt 6:25-33; Phil 4:19.•  There are promises about prayer - Jer 33:3; Mt 21:22.•  There are thousands of promises that relate to every conceivable area of our lives. Everything God has promised, God is able to do. He will honor His promises to you, and He will never fail to do what He says He will do. That is our God, and that is His guarantee to His people. When Jesus entered that scene of hopeless sorrow, He did not just come in with soothing words. Jesus entered that hopeless case and demonstrated His sovereign power. He didn’t just make promises, He did something about the problem.

WHAT IS SEPARATING YOU FROM JESUS?
March 11, 2018
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

John 3:1-15 is one of the best known passages in the New Testament. Jesus has a personal encounter with a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was one of the most powerful and influential men in all of Israel during this time period. Nicodemus is a wealthy, powerful, religious man. During the course of their conversation, Jesus refers to Nicodemus as “a master of Israel.” This tells us that Nicodemus was an educated man but, despite his learning, there were some things this man did not know. But, one night, this rich, powerful, educated man found himself alone in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. What Nicodemus learned that night would prove to be the greatest lessons of his life! Nicodemus came to Jesus for some answers about religion, what he received were some answers about redemption. He came to Jesus that night to ask some questions about life. He left with information about the new birth. Today’s Gospel words 14 to 21 are the continuation of that great message for us.

What was it that drew Nicodemus to Jesus that night? I think it was the events of John 2:13-25. There, Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the Temple and proclaimed the fact of His own death and resurrection. The Bible tells us that many of the people believed in Him because of His miracles, v. 23. However, Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew that their faith was superficial. It was based on the miracles and not genuine love for Him. No doubt Nicodemus saw what Jesus did at the Temple. No doubt Nicodemus heard what Jesus said when confronted at the Temple. What he saw and what he heard created a hunger within his soul to know more about Jesus. So, he came and he heard the Gospel. Did Nicodemus ever get saved? I think he did! Why? Nicodemus stood up for Jesus before the Sanhedrin, John 7:45-53. And, Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathaea bury the body of Jesus after the crucifixion, John 19:38-42. Nicodemus put his wallet and his well-being on the line for Jesus. Today’s Gospel is an effort to give more clarity to this confused man. Jesus goes on to explain things a little more deeply; Jesus uses an event from Israel's history to illustrate His teaching, He calls to mind the scene of Numbers 21:4-10. In this is passage, Israel is journeying through the wilderness and they are grumbling about their trials. God, in response, sends poisonous snakes into their midst and many of the people are bitten and die from the snake bites. Moses intercedes for the people and God tells him to fashion a snake from brass. He is to hang this brass snake on a pole. Then whoever is bitten and looks at the snake will live. Jesus is merely telling Nicodemus that as that snake of old was lifted up, so must Jesus be lifted up. Just like that snake, whoever looks at Jesus in faith will live, Acts 16:31. Jesus tells Nicodemus and us that God “so loved the world”. The word “so” indicates the depth of His love. It describes the manner of His love for fallen men. It is a deep love that motivated Him to send His Son to die for the lost. This is uncommon love! This is God’s love! Notice the object of God’s great love: the world. God’s love is seen in the gracious gift of His Son Jesus on the cross. The death of Jesus Christ for sinners is the greatest, most visible and the absolute final word concerning God’s love for humanity. God's love for humanity was so great that He gave up His only begotten Son to die that sinners might be saved. This has reference to the death Jesus suffered on our behalf. He knows what is going to happen to Him. When the Lord made His plan of salvation, He determined to exclude no one. If you need salvation, then today is the day to come to Jesus and to receive Him. Jesus plainly promised to Nicodemus and to each one of us in verses 16 and 17 that those who believed in Him would have eternal life and that they would never perish. Apart from Jesus, the sinner can expect nothing less than eternal separation from the presence of God in hell, 2 Thes. 1:8-9.

What kind of hope do we have today? Where will we spend our eternity? The sinner has no one to blame for his condition but himself. After all, Jesus has already done everything in His power to save your soul. He died for you, paid your sin debt, rose from the dead to give you life, prays for you at the Father's throne, sends His Spirit to give you light and to draw you to experience  Himself and established the sacrament of reconciliation for the forgiveness of our sins. If you are lost today, either you have never heard and today is the day when you will have to make an eternal decision or you have already heard before and have chosen to go on in sin. Please do not continue to turn Jesus away. The day will come when there will be no more time and no more opportunities for you. Come to Jesus, the only Person who can save the soul while there is still hope and while the Spirit of God is still calling you to Him.

DO I HAVE TO?
March 4, 2018
By Deacon Dennis Walters

Most of us who’ve parented young teenagers would, when we’d remind them to obey house rules, hear a complaint like, “Do I have to?” When I’d hear that, I had to resist saying: “No, of course you don’t have to! I just thought you’d want to avoid permanent loss of privileges; but you’re free to do as you like.” In reality, though, I’d say, “Yes, you have to. Now, do as I said!” I was a mean father.

    Many people these days complain about the Church’s rules and customs. They don’t like some of her teachings, especially her moral ones. In a way, they’re like children who complain, “Do I have to attend Mass every Sunday? Do I have to fast and abstain during Lent? Do I have to obey the commandments?” — and so on. The Church can’t take my sarcastic approach and say, “No, of course you don’t have to! I just thought you’d like to avoid Hell; but you’re free to do as you like.” Of course, it’s true that we are free to do as we like. We can disobey religious and moral obligations if we choose. When the Church says, “Yes, you have to,” she’s not being mean; she has our best interests at heart.

    Our first reading today spells out the 10 Commandments. These are things God says we have to do or avoid doing, because ignoring them is bad for us. God commands them because we belong to His adoptive family, and these ten commandments are the “house rules.” They form the bare minimum of good behavior that makes our life with God and each other possible. The Church also has other commandments that unite us as a worldwide body into one community of faith. Some of these are unique to Catholicism, such as liturgical laws. Others are basically commentaries on the ten commandments and on natural law, such as moral regulations not expressly spelled out in Scripture.

    Jews refer to the ten commandments as the “ten words.” The Hebrew word is mitzvot, plural of mitzvah. Mitzvah can be translated as “commandment” or good act, in the sense of performing a good deed. Many Jews regard mitzvah as something more, as companionship, or personal attachment between the commander and the one commanded, creating a personal relationship between the two. So doing the commandments creates a personal bond between us and God. In a very positive sense, the commandments give us an opportunity to create or strengthen that bond.

    That’s pretty clear of the first three commandments, the ones that relate to God, but it’s also true of the seven commands that relate to mankind. Even though expressed for the most part in the negative, they have positive meanings; namely, respect and care for other persons’ lives, for their property, for proper sexual relationships, for honesty in speech, and for active control over desires and wants. Of these seven, the key one is the command to honor one’s father and mother, both in the sense of immediate parents and in the sense of the extended family, including the state. It commands a proper respect for authority.

    Obeying the commandments guarantees a stable life. In Deuteronomy, Moses explains why the commandments are good for Israel:

See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, … then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you…. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, … I declare to you this day, that you shall perish…. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him.  (Dt. 30:15-20)

A pretty black and white choice, on the surface. If some complain that everyday moral choices involve lots of gray areas, the gray areas are like the technique for printing halftone photographs using little dots of black and white. The either/or alternatives are still there, just harder to see. The negative consequences of ignoring or actively disobeying the commandments are alienation, disintegration, divorce, social instability, and ultimately social and moral death. The positive consequences are the opposite. Obeying the commandments are a choice for life.

    More than that, they offer freedom to live well. It’s like obeying the rules of a sport. As long as you play by the rules, you’re free to become better and better in that sport. If you ignore them, at best you become a bad player, and at worst you’re playing a different game. For most athletes, the rules help them improve their performance.

    So do I have to obey them, and all the other rules that follow from them? No, I’m free not to. But the question is childish. Reluctant as they may be to obey, teenagers gradually learn that Dad isn’t being mean. He’s teaching them to grow up. Adult Christians know why the commandments are good for them. They understand how rules can free them to play life’s game the way it should be played. Most of all, adult Christians understand how the commandments are mitzvot, opportunities for creating and strengthening a personal bond between us and our Heavenly Father. In the final analysis, they help us love God. And that’s the best reason for doing what they command.

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR LENT
February 25, 2018

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Once again, the Pasch of the Lord draws near! In our preparation for
Easter, God in His providence offers us each year the season of Lent as a “sacramental sign of
our conversion”.[1] Lent summons us, and enables us, to come back to the Lord wholeheartedly
and in every aspect of our life. With this message, I would like again this year to help the entire
Church experience this time of grace anew, with joy and in truth. I will take my cue from the
words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew: “Because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many
will grow cold” (24:12). These words appear in Christ’s preaching about the end of time. They
were spoken in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, where the Lord’s passion would begin. In
reply to a question of the disciples, Jesus foretells a great tribulation and describes a situation
in which the community of believers might well find itself: amid great trials, false prophets
would lead people astray and the love that is the core of the Gospel would grow cold in the
hearts of many.
False prophets:They can appear as “snake charmers”, who manipulate human emotions in
order to enslave others and lead them where they would have them go. How many of God’s
children are mesmerized by momentary pleasures, mistaking them for true happiness! How
many men and women live entranced by the dream of wealth, which only makes them slaves to
profit and petty interests! How many go through life believing that they are sufficient unto
themselves, and end up entrapped by loneliness! False prophets can also be “charlatans”, who
offer easy and immediate solutions to suffering that soon prove utterly useless. How many
young people are taken in by the panacea of drugs, of disposable relationships, of easy but
dishonest gains! How many more are ensnared in a thoroughly “virtual” existence, in which
relationships appear quick and straightforward, only to prove meaningless! These swindlers, in
peddling things that have no real value, rob people of all that is most precious: dignity, freedom
and the ability to love. They appeal to our vanity, our trust in appearances, but in the end they
only make fools of us. Nor should we be surprised. In order to confound the human heart, the
devil, who is “a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44), has always presented evil as good,
falsehood as truth.
A cold heart : More than anything else, what destroys charity is greed for money, “the root of
all evil” (1 Tim 6:10). The rejection of God and his peace soon follows; we prefer our own
desolation rather than the comfort found in his word and the sacraments.[3] All this leads to
violence against anyone we think is a threat to our own “certainties”: the unborn child, the
elderly and infirm, the migrant, the alien among us, or our neighbour who does not live up to
our expectations. Creation itself becomes a silent witness to this cooling of charity. The earth is
poisoned by refuse, discarded out of carelessness or for self-interest. The seas, themselves
polluted, engulf the remains of countless shipwrecked victims of forced migration. The heavens,

which in God’s plan, were created to sing His praises, are rent by engines raining down
implements of death. Love can also grow cold in our own communities.
What are we to do? Perhaps we see, deep within ourselves and all about us, the signs I have
just described. But the Church, our Mother and Teacher, along with the often bitter medicine of
the truth, offers us in the Lenten season the soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving and fasting.
By devoting more time to prayer, we enable our hearts to root out our secret lies and forms of
self-deception,[5] and then to find the consolation God offers. He is our Father and he wants us
to live life well.
Almsgiving sets us free from greed and helps us to regard our neighbour as a brother or sister.
What I possess is never mine alone. How I would like almsgiving to become a genuine style of
life for each of us! How I would like us, as Christians, to follow the example of the Apostles and
see in the sharing of our possessions a tangible witness of the communion that is ours in the
Church! For this reason, I echo Saint Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians to take up a
collection for the community of Jerusalem as something from which they themselves would
benefit (cf. 2 Cor 8:10). This is all the more fitting during the Lenten season, when many groups
take up collections to assist Churches and peoples in need. Yet I would also hope that, even in
our daily encounters with those who beg for our assistance, we would see such requests as
coming from God Himself. When we give alms, we share in God’s providential care for each of
His children. Fasting weakens our tendency to violence; it disarms us and becomes an
important opportunity for growth. On the one hand, it allows us to experience what the
destitute and the starving have to endure. On the other hand, it expresses our own spiritual
hunger and thirst for life in God. Fasting wakes us up. It makes us more attentive to God and
our neighbor. It revives our desire to obey God, who alone is capable of satisfying our hunger.
I would also like my invitation to extend beyond the bounds of the Catholic Church, and to
reach all of you, men and women of good will, who are open to hearing God’s voice. Perhaps,
like ourselves, you are disturbed by the spread of iniquity in the world, you are concerned
about the chill that paralyzes hearts and actions, and you see a weakening in our sense of being
members of the one human family. Join us, then, in raising our plea to God, in fasting, and in
offering whatever you can to our brothers and sisters in need!