31. Sunday – Ordinary Time C- Sermon Thoughts (LK 19, 1-10)

31. Sunday – Ordinary Time C- Sermon Thoughts (LK 19, 1-10)
On this Sunday we meet Jesus on his way to Jerusalem.
There were many people who met Jesus on the way. But the experience of an Chief officer in the Customs, Zacchaeus – he was not a tax collector, because many consider him so – gets a special attraction in the Gospel.

Luke says he was seeking to see Jesus who he was: He had an ardent desire to meet Jesus. Even though he was rich and had power he was reluctant to meet him direct. So he climbs on a tree. This Sycamore tree had enough leaves and branches to hide a small man like Zacchaeus.

Jesus makes a stop under the sycamore tree and looked up. This was a call for Zacchaeus.

Just like Zacchaeus we think we can hide ourselves from others with many tricks. And it may be possible for a period.
But to hide away from God is impossible.

Zacchaeus is partially in many of us:
We have the desire to know God… But many are not getting this experience in the right way. Many of us are connecting God with our rituals and external activities, which is only a partial side of God.

Zacchaeus’ success gives us some tips. This says

1. we need the desire for God. Desire is not just some emotion, but it must move us to action for the purpose.

2. we have to be on the way. Zacchaeus’ desire to know Jesus moved him to the way of Jesus. We have to recognize, the way of God in our life, society and must be there to meet him.

3. We must hear his invitation: We need a keen heart to hear God. His voice is powerful, but not forcing. So to listen to him asks from us attention. His voice is heard in the Church, in the Holy Bible, though good people etc.

4. We have to act according his will: all the above 3 steps are fruitful with the action. Zacchaeus acted according to his Conscience. Jesus never asked from him to do that. One has to act according to the conscience and rightly.

We hear in the Gospel, that the Chief Officer of the Tax collectors, is also one among the children of Abraham.
He had no more inferiority thoughts,
because he is also one in the faith and included in the salvation work.

Zacchaeus must be a motivation for our time.
We are all invited specially to be with God.
But the other desires in us have extinguished the desire to be with God.

But it means not an end.
On Each Sunday morning we are invited to meet him in a special way here in this Church. Each day is an invitation to meet Him personally, in the Word he shares, in the Bread and wine he is present before us, in the various people, who are around us, in the charity, in the talks, in the concerns, in the life he grants us each morning, in the power to do our work… Yes he is present in all, His spirit is guiding us.

Are we recognizing him?
Does he help us to overcome some of our sorrows?
Does he strengthen us to carry the burden of the surprises of the life?

Zacchaeus had a totally different life after his time with Jesus.
It purified him, filtered him. He was free from the chains of Richness and property and entered in the world of love and sharing enriched by the divine.

Each Sunday, each celebration of the Eucharist, each sacrament, each prayer are invitation to this supreme and sublime entry.

How we respond to the calls?
Are we staying in his path? Can we hear him? Can we invite him to our lives?
And finally do we have enough power to enter in to God’s freedom by breaking the chains of “modern slaveries”?  May God Bless us. Amen!
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Fr Thomas Kalathil

30th Sunday – Sermon thoughts (Lk 18, 9-14)

30^th Sunday – Sermon thoughts (Lk 18, 9-14)

Today’s Gospel passage is the follow up from the last sunday.
If the last sunday was a guideline for us to pray unceasingly, this passage tells us how to pray.

Or better to say, what one should avoid in the genuine prayer.

Just like the last sunday we see two persons in this passage.

This time a Pharisee and a tax-collector.

Pharisee was a good man. He fulfilled the spiritual needs as the law directed.

He was more accepted in the society rather than the tax-collector and that means the tax-collector was not having a “spiritual-life”.

But at the end of the passage the tax-collector returns pleasing God than the Pharisee.

Pleasing the society is not bad in itself but it must also please God too.

In that matter the pharisee was a failure.

He tried to do everything according to the law, to please the external needs.

But the core lesson of charity and humanity was lacking in him.

The real problem of the Pharisee was not that he prayed less.

But he prayed in order to show.
His problem was in comparing his spiritual-life with the lives of others.

He was “standing before God”, but his heart was behind the “weakness of the tax-collector”.

Comparison is not bad at all.
It may help us to better our life and actions.

But there is a danger in this mathematical-dealing.

One tries to be better than the other in every matter.

This “to be better-thought” may lead one to psychological and social imbalance.

Because of this need of overtaking others, one becomes restless and unsatisfied in the life.

One may make his “brother” even his enemy.

We have plenty of examples for this:

Many of our celebrations are turned to be some kind of shows.

One shows costly dress, heavy Golden ornaments one can hardly see the bride.

But occasionally forgets the social justice, from our side.

We close our eyes on the need of the humanity, but are ready to go for any extend for our pleasure and esteem.

This we have started from our nursery classes. This will go unto the cemetery.

But It may not lead us to “heaven”.

Do we need heaven and god’s grace?

Then it is time to come down, to the earth:

Let us accept the needs and weaknesses of others.

Let us be proud in helping them, to be better human.

Let us please God and Men in the right way.

May God bless you!

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Fr Thomas Kalathil

29th Sunday in OT – C – Sermon thoughts (LK 18, 1-8)

29th Sunday in OT – C – Sermon thoughts (LK 18, 1-8)
This Sunday offers us two readings asserting the necessity of continual prayer. In the First reading from Exodus, we hear, Moses helps Joshua in the battle: not with his physical power, but with the spiritual one. He climbs the mountain with Aaron and Hur to pray for his people. And the scripture describes as long as Moses lifted up his hand in prayers, the Israelites were powerful.
Some different story is heard in the Gospel today. It is about a Judge and a widow. The Judge was a man “who neither feared God nor respected any human being” says Luke. But the uninterrupted petition of the Widow for “justice” pushes him to take some action, for her advantage.
Jesus tries to explain the need of Prayer with the help of this figure, but certainly this Judge cannot be placed with the figure of God.
God is better than this Judge. Jesus’ message is that.
His aim is to animate his listeners: to not to give up the prayers, even if they think that their prayers are not heard.
The woman pleads for “a just decision” (it is the better explanation of “revenge” in Hebrew-Context).
We don’t need much to hear about prayer, because it is hundred times said. Everything might be only mere repetition. In that case let us think about the relation between Prayer and Justice, for a while.
Many of us are daily asked to do it- to take a just decision- if there is a child at home. We know children have many needs. They for any extend to get their needs satisfied. At first they may ask, later on it can be turned in to cry, some may go for even “hunger-strike”. But all their needs are not satisfied: the parents’ takes decision – a right and just decision. It is permitted if it is good, otherwise it is rejected.
Justice; it is the Will of God for Jesus. His prayers were based on that; the will of God must be done. All his prayers were not satisfied.
Jesus, yes, the only Son of God had to undergo the passion and sufferings; his prayers were “unheard” for many at least for some days. Till they realize the moments of his resurrection. Yes that was the “justice”, the “will of God”. The prayers of Jesus had their full fruit in that moment.
Some times we are to follow this secret ways; Pains and Illness, pressure and criticisms: but it is not the end.
Let us not forget the truth; we aren’t greater than Jesus, the Son of God. If he had to suffer, then why can’t we too? If his prayers were rejected till the resurrection, why can’t it happen to me and you?
Finally, he asked us to “take the cross and follow”.
It also means to Remain in prayer; to be with God, even in your trails and tribulations; even in the moments of sorrow and rejection.
He says and asserts his message with his Life- resurrected:
You will have a day of Justice;
you will enjoy the will of God;
you will have a day of resurrection.
Let us remain in prayers in patience. Amen!
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Fr Thomas Kalathil

Sermon Thoughts – 28th Sunday (Lk 17, 11-19)

Sermon Thoughts – 28th Sunday (Lk 17, 11-19)

There is a ‘Tintumon Joke’ spreading in internet:
One day Tintumon comes home and asks mother:
“Mum, people think that I am God!”
“why?” “Who said that?” asked his mother eagerly.
“I went again to our neighbour house and the lady shouted;
“Oh, my God, are you again here!”…
(…because it was nearly a week he broke their window-glass with a cricket ball.)
It may be a simple joke.  But it says a truth.
We use the word “God” most time out of place or with out much awareness of the meaning. Awareness of God in the life is 10%; says the Gospel passage of this Sunday. There were 10 asked for a healing. All the ten were healed, without any hard work from their side at all. On their way to the priest (for purification) and to convince the society, it is just only 1 out of 10 returns to Jesus. There is less awareness about God in the lives of 9 healed Jews.
There may be 2 reasons for that:

1. The urge to fulfil the necessary “rituals” might have compelled the healed 9 Jews to go to priest, rather to return to Jesus.
2. Taken for Grantedness or unawareness of God’s assistance in the life.

The Samaritan ‘pagan’ had no such thoughts of ritual-compulsions. His prime aim was a healed body. And he returns to Jesus to thank him, who healed him; intervened in his life.
Just like the 9 Jews, we too forget God in our daily worries and hurries.
Jews had the thought that they were God’s chosen people. So it was God’s ‘natural duty to work wonders for them’???
If an old person gets help in a street, I used to hear such a comment, “you are an angel”. It is not the “word of gratefulness” for that we have to go after. But more than that, it reminds me and you, about a mission- an angelic mission.
We are called to be the Messengers of God in our life –a unique messenger; to represent God in our own style.
As in a prayer, “…we are the hands of God in world, as God has no hands to do it”.
If a society is away from God, we are somehow responsible for that. Because we are not representing Him: remember, we are created in the “image of God” and our images have less resemblance to God’s image.
We see some change in this passage very clearly: ‘Master’ becomes ‘God’. ‘Cry’ becomes ‘adoration and praise’.
That is the wonder, the inner wonder of this Gospel. Meeting God in our daily life, must give us such changes in our lives: our sorrows and grievances must be changed in to praises. God must be nearer than the past.  May God bless us. Amen!
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Fr Thomas Kalathil