New Year message:
When Almighty God is our Dad, then no worries!!
Homily:
Takeaway from first reading:
New Year Blessing for the congregation:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Takeaway from second reading:
God came to earth as ‘Son of man’ for us to be called as ‘Sons of God’.
So nice and sweet to call God ‘Daddy’/‘Pappa’/…
We should not worry. Even if we worry initially, then we should turn our focus to Pappa in Heaven and give all our worries to Him who readily takes care of them. He will help us go through fire and come out of without any trace of smoke.
If we worry, then it is like we do not know that we have a Father in Heaven who is cares for us.
Takeaway from Gospel reading:
Today we celebrate the Feast of Mary Mother of God and Beginning of New Year 2021!!
Mother Mary and Saint Joseph underwent all the issues that the world is facing now. During nativity, they were homeless, refugees, no regular pay cheque, no new clothes, no helping hands, were not aware from where the next meal was going to come from, could not have a proper plan for the future. It sounds similar to our situation now isn’t it?
Lessons learnt from Mother Mary’s life during Nativity:
1. Mother Mary did not worry about anything, though they were in tough situations. She did not worry about the past – like how far she had travelled in her final pregnancy stage on a donkey, or think about the future – who would provide food for them, but did her best in her present moment. She trusted in God for everything.
2. Mother Mary’s whole life was a prayer. For all that she could have worried, instead of worrying she prayed to God.
3. Mother Mary gave thanks in everything to God.
Today’s scripture also describes the thanksgiving art of Mother Mary:
“But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Mother Mary did not forget all the blessings that has been showered on her after giving thanks at the moment of the blessing, but she treasured all the blessings inside her heart (all her life) and frequently thought about them – so that Her soul would be involuntarily praising God.
4. Mother Mary voluntarily helped others – As soon as Mother Mary came to know that Elizabeth was pregnant, she voluntarily travelled a long distance to meet her. God rewarded Mother Mary with happiness and joy on hearing Elizabeth’s words.
5. Mother Mary was carrying God – who cannot stay where there is sin. Mother Mary’s thoughts were always beautiful, hence Almighty God shut Himself in Mother Mary’s womb comfortably.
We will consider the above Lessons learnt as Spiritual New Year Resolutions for 2021.
Spiritual New Year Resolutions:
1. SKIP WORRYING
a. Worry is acting like you do not have your heavenly Father. It’s like acting that your Father in heaven is not caring about you.
b. Never fight a battle without asking God first, be it an argument with your family or friend or an enemy in a career.
c. When times are tough, when you feel everything is against you, choose a fortified place, that is God’s presence. Seek God’s presence through prayer.
d. Mathew 6:34 – “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
e. Worry is worthless.
2. PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING
a. Prayer will turn your place of battle into a place of blessing. The battle may be your financial battle, relationship battle, career battle, etc.
b. There is nothing too small or too big to pray for/about.
c. If you can worry about something then you can pray about the same thing.
d. Either you carry all the worries or you let God carry all your worries through prayer.
e. Choose your battle to fight – like David asked God if he needed to fight the battle in 1 Chronicles 14:8-11.
f. Peace in the middle of a storm comes only from God.
3. GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING
a. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Here God says,”My will is – Be thankful”. This is God’s will.
b. The more thankful you are for the blessings that you already have, the more the blessings you will get.
c. Maintain a Thanksgiving notebook. Everyday morning write all the graces received on the previous day and thank God for them. At the year end you will have all the graces recorded for the year.
4. VOLUNTARILY HELP EVERYONE
a. When we give to others, God will give the recompense on earth and also in heaven.
a.i. Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
a.ii. Proverbs 19:17 – “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
b. On the judgement day, we will be asked the questionnaire based on the help we did on earth. God will say ‘Kudos’ or ‘Go to Hell’ depending on our HELP REPORT CARD.
5. THINKING LIKE GOD THINKS
a. God thinks that you are His son or His daughter, so always think that you are God’s son or daughter.
b. God has forgiven all your sins of the past and the sins that you will commit in the future, s o never have any guilty feeling in your heart.
c. God has plans for you, plans to prosper you, so never be hopeless. Be prisoners of hope as Apostle Paul says.
d. Jesus said that He is going to heaven to make a place ready for you in heaven. You may not own a house in earth, but you will have a castle in heaven built by God.
Fill your mind with thoughts aligned with God’s promises!!
New Year message:
When Almighty God is our Dad, then no worries!!
Homily:
Takeaway from first reading:
New Year Blessing for the congregation:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Takeaway from second reading:
God came to earth as ‘Son of man’ for us to be called as ‘Sons of God’.
So nice and sweet to call God ‘Daddy’/‘Pappa’/…
We should not worry. Even if we worry initially, then we should turn our focus to Pappa in Heaven and give all our worries to Him who readily takes care of them. He will help us go through fire and come out of without any trace of smoke.
If we worry, then it is like we do not know that we have a Father in Heaven who is cares for us.
Takeaway from Gospel reading:
Today we celebrate the Feast of Mary Mother of God and Beginning of New Year 2021!!
Mother Mary and Saint Joseph underwent all the issues that the world is facing now. During nativity, they were homeless, refugees, no regular pay cheque, no new clothes, no helping hands, were not aware from where the next meal was going to come from, could not have a proper plan for the future. It sounds similar to our situation now isn’t it?
Lessons learnt from Mother Mary’s life during Nativity:
1. Mother Mary did not worry about anything, though they were in tough situations. She did not worry about the past – like how far she had travelled in her final pregnancy stage on a donkey, or think about the future – who would provide food for them, but did her best in her present moment. She trusted in God for everything.
2. Mother Mary’s whole life was a prayer. For all that she could have worried, instead of worrying she prayed to God.
3. Mother Mary gave thanks in everything to God.
Today’s scripture also describes the thanksgiving art of Mother Mary:
“But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Mother Mary did not forget all the blessings that has been showered on her after giving thanks at the moment of the blessing, but she treasured all the blessings inside her heart (all her life) and frequently thought about them – so that Her soul would be involuntarily praising God.
4. Mother Mary voluntarily helped others – As soon as Mother Mary came to know that Elizabeth was pregnant, she voluntarily travelled a long distance to meet her. God rewarded Mother Mary with happiness and joy on hearing Elizabeth’s words.
5. Mother Mary was carrying God – who cannot stay where there is sin. Mother Mary’s thoughts were always beautiful, hence Almighty God shut Himself in Mother Mary’s womb comfortably.
We will consider the above Lessons learnt as Spiritual New Year Resolutions for 2021.
Spiritual New Year Resolutions:
1. SKIP WORRYING
a. Worry is acting like you do not have your heavenly Father. It’s like acting that your Father in heaven is not caring about you.
b. Never fight a battle without asking God first, be it an argument with your family or friend or an enemy in a career.
c. When times are tough, when you feel everything is against you, choose a fortified place, that is God’s presence. Seek God’s presence through prayer.
d. Mathew 6:34 – “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
e. Worry is worthless.
2. PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING
a. Prayer will turn your place of battle into a place of blessing. The battle may be your financial battle, relationship battle, career battle, etc.
b. There is nothing too small or too big to pray for/about.
c. If you can worry about something then you can pray about the same thing.
d. Either you carry all the worries or you let God carry all your worries through prayer.
e. Choose your battle to fight – like David asked God if he needed to fight the battle in 1 Chronicles 14:8-11.
f. Peace in the middle of a storm comes only from God.
3. GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING
a. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Here God says,”My will is – Be thankful”. This is God’s will.
b. The more thankful you are for the blessings that you already have, the more the blessings you will get.
c. Maintain a Thanksgiving notebook. Everyday morning write all the graces received on the previous day and thank God for them. At the year end you will have all the graces recorded for the year.
4. VOLUNTARILY HELP EVERYONE
a. When we give to others, God will give the recompense on earth and also in heaven.
a.i. Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
a.ii. Proverbs 19:17 – “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
b. On the judgement day, we will be asked the questionnaire based on the help we did on earth. God will say ‘Kudos’ or ‘Go to Hell’ depending on our HELP REPORT CARD.
5. THINKING LIKE GOD THINKS
a. God thinks that you are His son or His daughter, so always think that you are God’s son or daughter.
b. God has forgiven all your sins of the past and the sins that you will commit in the future, s o never have any guilty feeling in your heart.
c. God has plans for you, plans to prosper you, so never be hopeless. Be prisoners of hope as Apostle Paul says.
d. Jesus said that He is going to heaven to make a place ready for you in heaven. You may not own a house in earth, but you will have a castle in heaven built by God.
Fill your mind with thoughts aligned with God’s promises!!