Is this not the Carpenter’s Son?

Homily for May 1, 2017.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus is identified as the Carpenter’s son. In other words, his own people who saw him growing up knew that Joseph, his earthly/foster father was a carpenter.

They must have seen Jesus working with Joseph in the carpenter’s workshop or helping out when they went to work in people’s houses. It was possible that Jesus also learned carpentry himself and made some pieces of furniture for his customers.

For his own people to be so surprised at Jesus’ eloquence and wisdom in matters of the faith shows that they all knew him as a Carpenter in the making, not as a preacher not even to mention as the Messiah they had all being waiting for.

Even though Jesus knew what he had come to do on earth, he spent almost 30years out of his entire 33years living a very simple life, working as a carpenter under the supervision and instruction of St. Joseph. Hence today we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the worker.

By spending such a long time working, it simply goes to show that Jesus does not despise work. In fact, God approves of work. Work brings out our dignity as human being made in the image and likeness of God who himself worked for six days and rested on the seventh day.

Not only did God himself work, he also ordained work as the means through which man will provide for his needs and for those who depend on him. The blessing God gave to men included work.

“Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over fish of the sea, the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Tell me, is it possible for man to be fruitful without working? Can we subdue the earth by sleeping? Work is what gives us dominion and control over every living thing.

Dear friends, work is not punishment, it is part of what makes us fully human and fully divine. When we work, we become little gods in that we are able to create, innovate and discover just like God who created us. If we don’t work, we never get to know or develop or innate talents and God-given abilities.

Work is not something to be left for slaves or servants. No. Work does not reduce us, work increases our dignity. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a vagabond, and want like an armed man.” Proverbs 6:10-11 & Proverbs 24:33-34.

In fact, work is what makes sleep sweet. The reason why we work at all is so that we can rest peacefully. Ecclesiastes 5:12 says: “Sweet is the sleep of a labourer, whether he eats little or much.” Dear friends, laziness is not enjoyment!

Indeed as the saying goes: “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” There is no part of the Bible that encourages laziness or slothfulness. When the mind is not busy, temptations abound and one finds himself or herself craving for pleasures and living out his or her animal instincts. Stop giving the devil a chance. Get busy today!

Jesus said: “My Father is working still, and I am working.” John 5:17. Even the apostles worked to support themselves while they were preaching from place to place. They did not put too much burden on the people they were ministering to. St. Paul writing to the Thessalonians says:

  

“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one's bread without paying, but with toil and labour we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:6-8. 

Parents, please don’t spoil your children. Make them work for their incomes so that they would value money and learn to respect people. Work is not suffering, it is ongoing creation.

Finally, don’t just work for money, money is not the sole aim of work and money is not everything. Work for a vision, work to make our world a better place to live in. work for God. Work sometimes for free, volunteer yourself just to enjoy your sweat. Don’t become a slave to money in the name of work.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, bless me and the works of my hands. Amen.

*Happy new month and Happy Workers Day. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Bible Study: Genesis 1:26-33, and Matthew 13:54-58).*

Fr. Abu.

The Journey to Emmaus.

Homily for April 30, 2017.

Have you ever felt disappointed before? Did you ever engage in some business or try to learn a new skill or join a particular society or group in the church only for your expectations to be dashed? Have you had serious thoughts about leaving the church?

This was the situation of the two disciples of Jesus about whom we read about in our Gospel passage this morning. They were walking away from Jerusalem, away from the church, away from the life they had lived with Jesus for quite some time. Why? They felt terribly disappointed!

Their major disappointment was the fact that Jesus did not meet their expectations. What was their expectation from Jesus? That he would be the one to take over power from the Roman authorities and finally regain freedom for the Nation of Israel; after all, they must have read in Jeremiah 23:5-6 that:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely…”

They just couldn’t understand why Jesus would allow himself to be killed when he was supposed to be king. They couldn’t phantom why the Romans were still in charge after his resurrection. Like these disciples, many of us today are disappointed with God for not living up to our expectations based on our understanding of the scriptures.

For instance, you come across a verse like Philippians 4:19 which says: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Yet you still can’t understand why suffering should exist in your life as a Christian or why you don’t even have money to provide three square meals a day.

It is interesting that in the course of their disappointment, they didn’t even recognize that Jesus himself was walking with them. We become blind to God when we become ungrateful and can no longer count our blessings. We become blind to God when we focus only on our unmet expectations rather than on the good things we have enjoyed from God in the past.

Dear friends, what Jesus did for the disciples is exactly what happens at every mass. First, Jesus opened the Scriptures to them and taught them everything about himself, how it was necessary for him to suffer, how he had not come to struggle for earthly kingdoms but instead to defeat death itself. Then secondly, Jesus proceeded to give them his body and blood in Holy Communion.

That is why the mass is in two parts, the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus speaks to us during the readings and at the homily. Our hearts burn within us and with that frame of mind, we then proceed to receive His Body and Blood.

When we fully participate at mass, we cannot remain in Emmaus any longer. Like these disciples we are moved to go out immediately and share the good news with others. Indeed, if we listen to Jesus speak to us and give us his body in Holy Communions, our eyes would open and all our disappointments would vanish.

Every mass recalls the ultimate sacrifice Jesus paid on the cross and how his resurrection gives us deeper hope and confidence in God. As Peter explains in both our first and second reading, the resurrection of Jesus is the essence of our faith and as the beautiful song puts it: “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.”

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, come into my heart and speak your word as you did to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Amen.

*Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Third Sunday of Easter. Year A. Bible Study: Acts 2:14-33, 1^st Peter 1:17-21 and Luke 24:13-35).*

Fr. Abu.

It is I, do not be Afraid.

Homily for April 29, 2017.

In the midst of the turbulence, the strong wind and raging nature of the sea, Jesus decided to come to the disciples walking on water. The disciples were obviously scared beyond measure yet Jesus said to them: “It is I, do not be afraid.”

Few days ago I found myself in an almost similar situation as the apostles of Jesus. I was scared about certain things, so much that I started wishing I would suddenly vanish into the air.

Fear is something that reminds us of, and presents the worst possible scenario before our eyes. In the midst of fear, we feel terribly paralysed, hopeless and helpless and we begin to wonder why God would allow such to happen to us in the first place.

And it is precisely when our fear grips us to the throat, precisely at that very moment when there seems to be no way out, that God shows up. And he comes to us walking on water; that is, he comes into our very situation and makes it seem like nothing!

Jesus’ walking on water was to assure the disciples that even when the chips are down, even when all hope is lost, God is still on top of the situation. God who allowed the wind to be so heavy on the disciples knew exactly what he wanted to do.

Dear friends, let us bear in mind that nothing ever happens to us unless God first permits it. And if God permits such turbulence in our lives, it is because he wants to use it to groom our faith further.

If a student never writes examinations, how are we to promote him to the next class? If we don’t face trials in our lives, how are we to grow in our spiritual life? The truth is that if the seas of our lives remain calm for too long, we simply forget God.

Sometimes, the so called “negative” event that you wished never happened turns out to be your moment of breakthrough; your moment of discovery. This is what plays out in today’s first reading. Out of a confusion that arose from the daily distribution of food, came the ordination of the first set of deacons in the early church.

Calamities are good for us. They are Divine helps in disguise. As Denzel Washington puts it, “ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.” Thank God for hardship, thank God for your problems because they are meant to be stepping stones not stumbling blocks.

Yes, bad things would happen, fearful situations would arise in our lives from time to time, yes, the winds are going to blow in the direction we do not want, but then, no matter what, let us never take our eyes away from Jesus who comes to us walking on turbulent waters saying: “It is I, do not be afraid.”

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in your protection that I may fearlessly walk in your light. Amen.

*Happy Weekend. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Saturday of the 2^nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 6:1-7 and John 6:16-21).*

Fr. Abu.

Can Anyone Stop God?

(Homily for April 28, 2017).

The words of Gamaliel in our first reading today are worth pondering upon: “If this plan or undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God.”

With this statement, the chief priests and religious leaders had to let the Apostles be at last. They realized that there was no need fighting them further since that could mean fighting God. They simply had the Apostles flogged and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus.

The very fact that the Christian faith continues to this day and that many more continue to preach the name of Jesus Christ is a clear proof that indeed the mission of the Apostles was not the making of man but of God. Indeed, no one can succeed in overthrowing something that God himself has established.

Yes, no one can stop God. This is our confidence, this is the faith on which we stand. Whoever tries to fight the church will find himself or herself contending directly with God and no one can overthrow God.

In our Gospel passage, Jesus proved that with God nothing is impossible by feeding a crowd of about five thousand with just five loaves and two fish. As John tells us, this miracle is a sign; a pointer to some deeper reality.

Jesus’ purpose for working such a miracle was not simply to feed their hungry stomachs but to direct their hearts towards him; to make them realize God was in their midst; that only in God will all their needs be met and to prepare them for the gift of the Holy Eucharist.

The people for their part realized a miracle had just happened. They knew the way they had just been fed was not ordinary but instead of recognizing Jesus’ divinity, they perceived him as an earthly Messiah and were trying to make him king.

The experience of the Apostles and the feeding of the five thousand teaches us a lesson: Indeed, no one can stop God, not even the forces of nature. The God who created the five loaves and two fish which would normally feed just one or two persons is able to use that same five loaves and two fish to feed a multitude.

We should therefore no longer be scared of anything or anyone when we know God is involved. When people threaten us or we don’t seem to have enough, let us call on God. The God who saw the Apostles through and who provided for the multitude will surely come to help us.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in your protection that I may fearlessly walk in your light. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 2^nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 5:34-42 and John 6:1-15).*

Fr. Abu.

Who do we Obey?

Homily for April 27, 2017.

 

Despite the threats, the arrest and the oppression from the authorities, the apostles were determined not to stop the good work of proclaiming Jesus Christ in obedience to the divine mandate of Jesus:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20.

The last line of this mandate is worth emphasising because it explains why the disciples were so bold and fearless in challenging the authorities. They kept reminding themselves of Jesus’ assurance: “I am with you always, to the end of the end of the age.”

In our Gospel passage today, Jesus says to Nicodemus. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of God rests upon him.” In other words, there are dire consequences for disobeying God.

The truth is that nobody likes to be disobeyed. But then, the choice is ours to make as to who to disobey; whether to disobey men and suffer persecution as a result or to disobey God and face His wrath.

If it comes to that point when we have to choose who to obey, let us remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in your protection that I may fearlessly walk in your light. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 2^nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 5:27-33 and John 3:31-36).*

Fr. Abu.

The Lowly One Called and the Lord Heard.

Homily for April 26, 2017.

The high priest rose up and all his companions… and, filled with jealousy, laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said: “Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.”

When they heard this, they went to the temple early in the morning and taught. When the high priest and his companions arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the jail to have them brought in.

But the court officers who went did not find them in the prison, so they came back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the doors,

but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were at a loss about them, as to what this would come to. Then someone came in and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area and are teaching the people.” 

Anyone who sets out to do God’s work will always enjoy Divine Protection from God. God fights for the poor and will never turn a deaf when the innocent calls.

As John tells us in today’s Gospel passage, our world today is filled with too many people who prefer darkness to light; people who will try everything possible to prevent the light of Christ from shining; people who try to cut short the life of God’s genuine messengers.

“And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light.” John 3:19-20.

Are we then to stop letting our light shine because of the powerful forces of darkness who try to stop us? Not at all. The battle belongs to the Lord. When anyone tries to fight us for walking in the light, we should not fear because God will grant us victory!

Our responsorial psalm wraps everything us beautifully when it says: “The Angel of the Lord is encamped around those who fear Him, to rescue them. Taste and see that the Lord is Good. Blessed is the man who seeks refuge in him.”

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in your protection that I may fearlessly walk in your light. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Wednesday of the 2^nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 5:17-26 and John 3:16-21).

Fr. Abu.

Saint Mark, the Evangelist.

(Homily for April 25, 2017).

Today, we celebrate one of the great heroes of our Christian Faith, a man whose Gospel is still being used all over the world today as a reference point for understanding the person and message of Jesus Christ.

Mark was a personal assistant to the first Pope, St. Peter the Apostle and the Gospel he wrote was the content of what he heard Peter preach as they went from place to place in the mission of evangelization.

Peter even refers to Mark as a son as read in today’s first reading. Mark was not an assistant but one in all humility served the mission by applying his talents and gifts. Perhaps, Peter had him in mind when he wrote of the need for us to clothe ourselves with humility.  

Indeed, one shining virtue we should all have as Christians is humility. Without it, we cannot learn from others and we cannot grow. We should never do anything to attract praise or exaltation to ourselves; let us allow God himself to exalt us.

Pride is one weapon the devil tries to use against us, hence we must be on a guard and resist the devil by resisting our self-pride. Quite often, humility translates to having to put up with suffering, but we should never be ashamed to suffer because our reward is waiting in heaven.

It is believed that Mark was among the Seventy that Jesus sent out two by two to go into the surrounding countries in Luke 10: 1-20. And as Luke narrates, the seventy came back rejoicing declaring how the evil spirits obeyed their bidding.

This is the same reality that Mark tries to convey in the concluding part of his Gospel passage from which we read today. “And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by signs that attended it.” Mark 16:20.

As we can see, miracles are signs that accompany and confirm the message not the other way round. Jesus asked us to go and preach everywhere. He didn’t say go and work miracles everywhere. Today’s Christianity has turned things around: No one says, “Come and hear the word of God,” they say, “come and receive your miracle.”

Any place where miracles are happening yet the word of God is not preached or given little attention and time, we must be on guard for native doctors, magicians and occultists have taken over the miracle business.

All we are called to do is to preach, leave miracles for Jesus. Mark says: “The Lord worked with them confirming the message by signs…” No one can lay claim to any miracle but Jesus is the only one who works miracles.

According to scripture scholars, Mark was the first person to have written a Gospel as early as 64 A.D. while Matthew and Luke copied from him thereby accounting from the deep similarities in the three Gospels.

Saint Mark’s journey with Saint Peter and Saint Barnabas is recorded in Acts as they travelled through Cyprus and Rome carrying the Word. Church writings accredit Saint Mark as founding the Church in Alexandria and consequently, serving as bishop there.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, may I also spread your word like Mark the Evangelist. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Feast of St. Mark. Bible Study: 1 Peter 5:5-14 and Mark 16:15-20).

Fr. Abu.

No One Can Fight Truth.

Homily for April 24, 2017.

Having confronted the Chief Priests and rulers of the people with the truth that a lame man was healed by the power of the resurrected Christ, Peter and John were surprised that the religious rulers of the time tried to stop the message of Christ.

Like these chief priests and rulers of the people, there are many highly placed people in our society today; the political class, the rich and influential and even in religious circles who despite knowing the truth try all they can to suppress it.

In the Gospel passage, we see a highly placed personality, Nicodemus, a member of the leading Pharisees come to Jesus at night. He came to hear the truth one on one knowing fully well that only Jesus had the answers.

The action of Nicodemus shows that deep down the hearts of these Pharisees, they knew that Jesus was truly the Messiah. Hear what Nicodemus says: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs you do unless God is with him.”

Since they know Jesus actually came from God, what stopped them from accepting him? And even after the resurrection, when they saw obvious evidences proving that Jesus is God, (the man who was healed by the name of Jesus), why did they still try to stop the message?

The simple answer is Pride. Shame would not allow them swallow their pride and accept the truth of what Jesus was saying. And after the resurrection, shame still would not allow them accept that they made a mistake by killing Jesus.

Just try to picture this scenario. A university professor is asked a question in public and while he is still trying to figure out the answer, an undergraduate steps up, answers the question and proves the equation with such boldness that everyone gets up to give him a sounding round of applause. What do you expect the Professor to do? Join in the clap? I don’t think so.

As we begin a new working week today, let us pray for the grace of humility to seek for the truth always and to accept it rather than try to fight it. God himself is truth and any attempt to suppress truth will always backfire.

It is over two thousand years now and the message of Christ that the chief priests and religious leaders tried to stop is still being preached all over the world. Indeed, no one can fight truth.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, bless me with the boldness to always speak the truth. Amen.

Happy New Week. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Monday of the 2^nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 4:23-31 and John 3:1-8).

Mercy: The Good News of Easter.

Homily for April 23, 2017.

On this second Sunday of Easter, our entire liturgy from opening prayers to the readings are centred on Mercy. Today is the Sunday of Mercy, the day our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to St. Faustina as the day the world should mark the feast of Divine Mercy.

What is mercy?

It is the opposite of selfishness; it is looking out for others, putting the needs and concerns of others before yours. To be merciful is to practice what we read in today’s first reading which says:

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need.” Acts 2:44-45. Mercy is compassion, it is feeling sorry for others and being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes.

Every now and then, we read about how our economic and financial crimes commission are discovering millions here and there in houses, in graveyards, in airports and even in busy markets.

Whether or not these monies are actually stolen, the fact is that for such monies to even exist in a country where the average person can barely feed three times a day shows the height of mercilessness. If we all decide to look out for each other as the Apostles did, no one would be poor. Mercy is the answer to our problems in this country.

Why should we be merciful?

Because the God who we serve is Merciful. And this Easter, we commemorate how God in his mercy looked with pity on humanity and decided to send His Only Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us from sin and death even while we were still sinners.

This is what St. Peter explains in the second reading. “By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:3-4.

If God was not merciful, he would have left us to perish in our sins and die since that was what we deserved. If not for God’s mercy, Jesus would not gone to the Cross of Calvary. And even right there on the cross, Jesus not only practiced mercy, he taught us how to be merciful by saying: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

Forgiving others the wrongs they do to us is an essential part of mercy. This is because no one deserves forgiveness. To forgive others is always a gift, there is always going to be a painful giving involved, hence the very word “forgive” has a “give” within it. Each time we forgive, we are giving, we are letting something go, we are sacrificing!

Practicing mercy is not easy, giving things away is not funny, forgiving others is painful and difficult, yet this is essentially what we are called to do as Christians. St. Peter acknowledges this difficulty and pain as part of the trials we face often but he encourages us not to give up because there is reward waiting for us.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7.

Do we also need Mercy?

When we talk about forgiveness and mercy, it is easy for us to harden our hearts to others but then, the moment we try to turn things around, we discover that we ourselves are not only poor but grievous sinners constantly in need of God’s mercy.

Each time we get down on our knees to pray, we are beggars just like those who beg from us. And each time we sin, we need God’s forgiveness otherwise we suffer punishment for it. In our Gospel passage this morning, we saw how Jesus made God’s forgiveness so easy and so affordable to obtain.

“As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” John 20:21-23.

In this way, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession giving his disciples (priests), the power to act in his person in absolving people of their sins. In other words, as long as we can see a priest to confess to, we can obtain forgiveness. So easy, so cheap! We don’t have to kill a goat or put money down, we don’t even have to come out publicly to narrate ourselves before the community. And even our penance is never ever proportionate to our sins.

If God has made his mercy so easy to obtain, why then do we withhold forgiveness from others? Why do we need people to come and apologize first or pay us back first before we forgive? If we are always begging from God, why do we turn deaf ears to those who beg from us? Doesn’t the Bible say do to others what you want to be done to you?

Finally, Jesus himself practically displayed how we should practice mercy by asking Thomas to come and touch his hands and his feet. Of course, Thomas deserved some strokes of the cane for doubting but Jesus does not even show any anger towards him, he simply condescends to his level by asking him to touch his hands and feet so as to believe.

In conclusion therefore, let us be merciful. Without mercy, we cannot say we are children of God because God is merciful and every child has to resemble his father. What we are asking from God, let us never deny it from others.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in your mercy and make me more merciful. Amen.

Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Divine Mercy Sunday. Bible Study: Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 1:3-9 and John 20:19-31)