Sermon thoughts- 8th Sunday in Ordinary time- A – Mt 6, 24-34

The following joke is known for many of us.
A man comes to the Pastor with the wish to baptize his dog.
The Pastor replied: “That's impossible.”
Then the man said: “Pastor, my dog is like a family member and he makes a bow (of reverence) when he pass the church. In addition, I also put 10,000 euros for the sunday collection.”
The Pastor thought for a moment and said:
“Well, if the dog is so devout and a “christian”, then it's okay:
But please keep it as secret.”
The dog was baptized, but the man must of course tell this everyone.
The Bishop also learns this news and rang the Pastor:
“Brother, are you mad, to baptize a dog?”
The Pastor explained everything with calmness and said:
“His Excellency,
the dog is so devout. He makes a bow to the most holy sacrament, when he pass the church. In addition to that, the man has given 10000 Euro for the sunday collection”.
Immediately came the question from the Bishop:
“And when is the Confirmation?”...

It is just a peace of humor and has got no personal reference:
But I wanted to say that we humans have certain inclination towards money. Of course, some bishops, priests and nuns have this tendency - they are also human beings.
But they are not an exception; there are also politicians, businessmen and many others who have this weakness...

Money is not bad in itself. We need it for our life. We need it to support others. We need it for our well-being.
If wealth is so good, why Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mammon means money and has Aramaic, Latin and Greek origin.)
For this reason, many of us may wonder and ask:
Is Jesus warning us against the money and wealth?


--Thomas Kalathil
Sermon thoughts- 8th Sunday in Ordinary time- A – Mt 6, 24-34

7th Sunday in Ordinarytime A – Mt 5, 38-48_Lev 19, 1-2.17-18

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” We know this saying not only from the Bible but also in our school days, in history class. In the East there was a set of rules, called the Code of Hammurabi. This collection goes to (18th Century BC) Hammurabi who was the sixth king of the first Babylonian Dynasty. Rules such as “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” originates from this collection. But such rules were there even in ancient Rome (450BC): In the 'Twelve Tables laws' we read: “If a person has maimed another's limb, let there be retaliation in kind, unless he agrees to make compensation with him." (Lex talionis) (VIII, 2) (http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/12tables.html )
That was the 'justice' at that time. Today we have a different opinion. Justice is not only “to repay the same with the same” for us. It also has to observer the laws on human rights too.

With this background, we call the old laws brutal now....

--Thomas Kalathil7th Sunday in Ordinarytime A – Mt 5, 38-48_Lev 19, 1-2.17-18

6th Sunday in ordinary Time -A – Mt 5, 17-37

I think many of us have heard the following story:
It is about a criminal who was sentenced to death
but was set free by a mistake in the punctuation.
The story goes so: Finding the man a criminal, the judge gave the verdict, “Hang him, not leave him.”
But the staff typed the judgement thus:
“Hang him not. Leave him.”
Thus the criminal was set free.
See, a small misplace of a comma can change things radically.
The story tells us that.

In the Gospel we hear a sentence from Jesus.:
“Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will ....

--Thomas Kalathil6th Sunday in ordinary Time -A – Mt 5, 17-37

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time- A – Mt 5, 13-16, Jes 58, 7-10

“Habit makes the mistakes beautiful...”
This line is from a German poem ('Das Land der Hinkenden', 1769) by a German poet Christian Fuerchtegott Gellert (1715-1769).
And I think many of our experiences may admit it.

But experts say:
Habit can not make wrong things better or correct.
But becomes bearable with time.

Therefore: Almost any body can do anything wrong.
...

--Thomas Kalathil
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time- A – Mt 5, 13-16, Jes 58, 7-10