Key Message:
Where do we store up our treasures – In Heaven or the earth? Homily: The takeaway from the first reading:
God’s choices may be different from man’s choices. Right from the Old Testament to the New Testament (selection of Moses with the stammering mouth, Joseph, David… to Jesus selecting the twelve Apostles), we see that God’s choices were different from that of men.
We wonder as Jesus prayed all night and came up with a list of twelve disciples. What were the attributes of those disciples? They were just like us – nothing big or great in them. In that case, why did He make those selections? Because He wanted His disciples to represent a common man, so that we may be able to relate ourselves to any of the Apostles.
We can relate ourselves to St. Peter whenever we say ‘NO’ to Jesus. We can relate ourselves to St. Thomas whenever we doubt Him. So all the Apostles have once been at our stage and later they were moulded to become Apostles of God. This is what Jesus, or the same Jesus residing in us as the Holy Spirit, can do to us.
God’s Spirit will transform us from weak vessels to strong servants of God!! The takeaway from the second reading:
The second reading asks us to stock our treasures in Heaven for the life ever after rather than for our last days here on earth.
We can accumulate our everlasting treasures in Heaven when we do good on earth. When people asked St. John the Baptist, what they should do, St. John the Baptist did not say big tasks are very difficult to achieve. He did not ask us to undertake big projects like feed 100 people or build a big church building. He asks us to do the same tasks which we need to do, but do it righteously. He is calling us to excel in our current way of life (Luke 3:10-14).
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely — be content with your pay.”
Sharing our extra clothing or food with people in our vicinity or not being corrupt does not cost much. But when they are done for the love of God, they earn us eternity.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus is a beautiful example of serving God with our simple daily little chores. We can follow her example and perform our little duties correctly for the love of our God.
Let us refer to God for any decision to be taken – “What would God like me to do here rather than what would I like to do?” The takeaway from Gospel reading:
In the first reading and the Gospel reading, we witness similar scenes.
In the first reading, Joshua and others ask Moses to stop those outside the camp from prophesizing. Similarly, in the Gospel reading, we find Apostles asking Jesus to stop the non-Apostles from casting away demons in the name of Jesus.
Jesus and Moses both respond the same way – something like – ‘It is God’s anointing, even though they may not be part of our team, still they are doing God’s work. Do not stop them’.
It does not matter to God whether we are inside the camp or ‘outside’ the camp as in the First reading or part of the chosen Apostles as in today’s Gospel. All God requires is a heart yearning to love Him.
Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading:
“For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
We should honour the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially our priests and nuns who have offered themselves as a living sacrifice to God. There will be weaknesses in them because still they are human beings just like us. But despite their human weakness, they serve our Almighty God willingly. We should support them in all their endeavours and consistently pray for them in our family prayers.
As and when we pray in the “Our Father”, “let Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”, let us remember our priests and nuns, that the will of our Father in Heaven may be done in their lives too. Tips for implementing the Takeaways:
1. “For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
a. Choose a priest or a nun and be the prayer warrior for that particular priest or nun.
b. Our church has the privilege of being supported by all the saints and angels in Heaven. We can pray for our chosen priest or nun to our dear saint. They are always ready to help us from Heaven
c. Along with prayer we can make little sacrifices for them.
2. Our Lord Jesus says in the Gospel, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; you should enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire…”
Our Lord gives us a very good example of going to the unquenchable fire in the rich man and Lazarus story. Though the rich man did not hurt Lazarus explicitly, he did not do anything good to him. If the rich man would have given liberally, then he would have been enjoying life both on earth and in heaven.
3. Our God places lots of opportunities (like Lazarus), who can be our staircase to Heaven. Helping others is a doable task now, they are fulfilling and that is the way we climb on the staircase to Heaven and claim our rewards.
4. God is fully satisfied when we do whatever our call in life is, sincerely. For example, if we have a child that is not on the right track and we are not sure how to mend her/his ways, we can:
a. Pray for the child;
b. Offer small daily sacrifices for the child, like not eating what we like, foregoing a part of the entertainment, not yelling, screaming…
c. We can choose a saint and constantly pray to the saint and Mother Mary for our child. They are all waiting to be with us and take care of us.
We can face any kind of challenge with the help of Almighty God, Mother Mary, all saints, and angels. Saints are prayer warriors in Heaven for us. Let us share all our worries and agonies with them. They will solve our worries.
Key Message:
Where do we store up our treasures – In Heaven or the earth?
Homily:
The takeaway from the first reading:
God’s choices may be different from man’s choices. Right from the Old Testament to the New Testament (selection of Moses with the stammering mouth, Joseph, David… to Jesus selecting the twelve Apostles), we see that God’s choices were different from that of men.
We wonder as Jesus prayed all night and came up with a list of twelve disciples. What were the attributes of those disciples? They were just like us – nothing big or great in them. In that case, why did He make those selections? Because He wanted His disciples to represent a common man, so that we may be able to relate ourselves to any of the Apostles.
We can relate ourselves to St. Peter whenever we say ‘NO’ to Jesus. We can relate ourselves to St. Thomas whenever we doubt Him. So all the Apostles have once been at our stage and later they were moulded to become Apostles of God. This is what Jesus, or the same Jesus residing in us as the Holy Spirit, can do to us.
God’s Spirit will transform us from weak vessels to strong servants of God!!
The takeaway from the second reading:
The second reading asks us to stock our treasures in Heaven for the life ever after rather than for our last days here on earth.
We can accumulate our everlasting treasures in Heaven when we do good on earth. When people asked St. John the Baptist, what they should do, St. John the Baptist did not say big tasks are very difficult to achieve. He did not ask us to undertake big projects like feed 100 people or build a big church building. He asks us to do the same tasks which we need to do, but do it righteously. He is calling us to excel in our current way of life (Luke 3:10-14).
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely — be content with your pay.”
Sharing our extra clothing or food with people in our vicinity or not being corrupt does not cost much. But when they are done for the love of God, they earn us eternity.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus is a beautiful example of serving God with our simple daily little chores. We can follow her example and perform our little duties correctly for the love of our God.
Let us refer to God for any decision to be taken – “What would God like me to do here rather than what would I like to do?”
The takeaway from Gospel reading:
In the first reading and the Gospel reading, we witness similar scenes.
In the first reading, Joshua and others ask Moses to stop those outside the camp from prophesizing. Similarly, in the Gospel reading, we find Apostles asking Jesus to stop the non-Apostles from casting away demons in the name of Jesus.
Jesus and Moses both respond the same way – something like – ‘It is God’s anointing, even though they may not be part of our team, still they are doing God’s work. Do not stop them’.
It does not matter to God whether we are inside the camp or ‘outside’ the camp as in the First reading or part of the chosen Apostles as in today’s Gospel. All God requires is a heart yearning to love Him.
Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading:
“For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
We should honour the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially our priests and nuns who have offered themselves as a living sacrifice to God. There will be weaknesses in them because still they are human beings just like us. But despite their human weakness, they serve our Almighty God willingly. We should support them in all their endeavours and consistently pray for them in our family prayers.
As and when we pray in the “Our Father”, “let Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”, let us remember our priests and nuns, that the will of our Father in Heaven may be done in their lives too.
Tips for implementing the Takeaways:
1. “For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
a. Choose a priest or a nun and be the prayer warrior for that particular priest or nun.
b. Our church has the privilege of being supported by all the saints and angels in Heaven. We can pray for our chosen priest or nun to our dear saint. They are always ready to help us from Heaven
c. Along with prayer we can make little sacrifices for them.
2. Our Lord Jesus says in the Gospel, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; you should enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire…”
Our Lord gives us a very good example of going to the unquenchable fire in the rich man and Lazarus story. Though the rich man did not hurt Lazarus explicitly, he did not do anything good to him. If the rich man would have given liberally, then he would have been enjoying life both on earth and in heaven.
3. Our God places lots of opportunities (like Lazarus), who can be our staircase to Heaven. Helping others is a doable task now, they are fulfilling and that is the way we climb on the staircase to Heaven and claim our rewards.
4. God is fully satisfied when we do whatever our call in life is, sincerely. For example, if we have a child that is not on the right track and we are not sure how to mend her/his ways, we can:
a. Pray for the child;
b. Offer small daily sacrifices for the child, like not eating what we like, foregoing a part of the entertainment, not yelling, screaming…
c. We can choose a saint and constantly pray to the saint and Mother Mary for our child. They are all waiting to be with us and take care of us.
We can face any kind of challenge with the help of Almighty God, Mother Mary, all saints, and angels.
Saints are prayer warriors in Heaven for us. Let us share all our worries and agonies with them. They will solve our worries.