Ash Wednesday 2019

From Fr. Tony Kadavil:

1) “Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”

Some of the senior citizens here today can remember a song that was popular exactly 41 years ago. In 1971, a group from Canada called the Five Man Electrical Band had a hit called “Signs.” The song is about how signs are always telling us what to do, and the chorus says, “Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” Four decades later, the question it poses – “Can’t you read the sign?” — is one we might ask ourselves today. We are going to be signed with ash - the sign of our faith, the cross. “Can’t you read the sign?” The cross of ashes means that we are making a commitment – that we are undertaking Lent as a season of prayer and penitence, of dying to ourselves. It also describes our human condition: it says that we are broken, and need repair; that we are sinners and need redemption. Most importantly, it tells us that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to carry our crosses. It also reminds us that we are dust and ashes – mortal human beings carrying an immortal soul. (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/)  

8 Sunday C - Authenticity as a Disciple

Lk 9: Transfiguration at the bottom

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From Fr. Tony Kadavil:

1: Rash judgment on buying “Luxury items” with food stamps: A grocery store check-out clerk once wrote to advice-columnist Ann Landers to complain that she had seen people buy “luxury” food items—like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp—with their food stamps. The writer went on to say that she thought all those people on welfare who treated themselves to such non-necessities were “lazy and wasteful.” A few weeks later Lander’s column was devoted entirely to people who had responded to the grocery clerk. One woman wrote: “I didn’t buy a cake, but I did buy a big bag of shrimp with food stamps. So what? My husband had been working at a plant for fifteen years when it shut down. The shrimp casserole I made was for our wedding anniversary dinner and lasted three days. Perhaps the grocery clerk who criticized that woman would have a different view of life after walking a mile in my shoes.” Another woman wrote: “I’m the woman who bought the $17 cake and paid for it with food stamps. I thought the check-out woman in the store would burn a hole through me with her eyes. What she didn’t know is the cake was for my little girl’s birthday. It will be her last. She has bone cancer and will probably be gone within six to eight months.” Today, Jesus advises us to leave the judgment to God and to show mercy and compassion. (Rev. Richardson). http://frtonyshomilies.com/

7 Sunday C: Radicality of Christian Love

From The Connections:

HOMILY POINTS:

In every relationship, in every set of circumstances, the faithful disciple of Jesus seeks to break the cycle of hatred and distrust by taking that often-formidable first step to love, to seek reconciliation above all else.
Seeing beyond hatreds and differences, borders and boundaries, flags and uniforms, languages and cultures, suspicions and unsettled scores is the cutting edge of the Gospel.  The relationship we seek with God we must first seek with one another.

6 Sunday C - Beatitudes - Blessed are you ..

From The Connections:

THE WORD:

In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of “Beatitudes,” but in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, Jesus drops a series of bombshells.  He takes the accepted standards of the times and turns them upside down:  To those who are considered the “haves” of society, Jesus warns “Woe to you!” – wealth and power are not the stuff of the kingdom of God; but to the “have nots,” Jesus says, “Happy and blessed are you” – love, humble selflessness, compassion and generosity are the treasure of God's realm.  Jesus promises his followers poverty, suffering, persecuting and grief -- but their hope in God will be rewarded with perfect and complete joy.

This will be a constant theme throughout Luke’s Gospel: Jesus teaches that wealth and power are not the stuff of the reign of God, but humility, selflessness and compassion are the treasures of God’s kingdom.

5 Sunday C - Mission- Catchers of People

From Fr. Jude Botelho:

The first reading is a well-known passage from the Old Testament, in which Isaiah describes his vision of Yahweh in heaven with imagery from the earthly temple of Jerusalem. The call of Isaiah is striking due to the sharp contrast between Isaiah's utter unworthiness and the overwhelming holiness of God. Isaiah confesses his sinfulness, and is purified by the symbolic action of the seraph touching his lips. Then God asks, "Whom shall I send?" to which Isaiah generously responds: "Here I am, send me!" Every vision of God implies a choice and an invitation. Every vision implies a mission. Each time we come to God he sends us on a mission. We cannot come to God unless we are ready to go forth in His name!