Father's Weekly Message
Fr. Shaji Joseph Pazhukkathara
October 2022
October reminds us to pray for life and November invites us to pray for our loved ones....
10/28/2022 0 Comments
Month of October, we were reflecting and praying, especially through the devotion to the Rosary, on the dignity of human life.
This is the last weekend of Respect Life month; we are praying for victims of Domestic violence and human trafficking. Violence against another person is a failure to treat that person as someone worthy of love. The violence within the sacramental marriage, the abused spouse may question, "How do these violent acts relate to my promise to take my spouse for better or for worse?" An article from United State Bishops says, “We focus here on violence against women since 85 percent of the victims of reported cases of non-lethal domestic violence are women. Women's greatest risk of violence comes from intimate partners—a current or former husband or boyfriend.” Human trafficking is a new form of slavery. United Bishop’s Conference says, “Human trafficking violates the sanctity, dignity, and fundamental rights of the human person.” They state that every nation is affected by this disease—the United States is no exception.
Today’s reading reminds us God is benevolent, his mercy envelopes each and every creature. The first reading from the book of Wisdom answers the question, “Why doesn’t God do away with evil men?” The answer is God created everything, he loves and cares for everyone, which leads him to be gentle with the wicked, leading them to repentance. The Book of Wisdom consoles us saying, “You overlook people’s sins so that they may repent” (11:23).
The Gospel reading through the account of Zacchaeus gives a real-life example of what Christ taught in his parables about repentance. Like most of the tax collectors, of his day, Zacchaeus was hated by his fellow Jews for cheating for their money and collaborating with Romans. Yet, Christ recognized Zacchaeus’ very desire to see him and called him by name, which leads to repentance and conversion. St. Paul’s second letter to Thessalonians encourages to persevere in their Christian Faith, giving glory to God without idly waiting for the “second coming” of Christ in their lifetime.
All Saints Day and All Souls Day: In the month of November, the Church invites us to pray for our loved ones. We celebrate November 1st is all Saints Day and November 2nd is all Souls Day. Sometimes we think that the church means we who are on earth. Church has three realms: the church on earth is called the militant church because we are in a battle between good and evil; the souls in purgatory are called suffering church because they are in state of purification to fully experience God’s glory and the saints who have already entered in the heavenly glory are victorious or triumphant church. All Saints Day is a Holy Day of Obligation this year. Children are encouraged to dress up like their favorite saint for the All Saints Day Mass.
All Saints Day is a feast honoring all Christian saints – known and unknown. On All Souls Day we remember all those who have gone before us. The souls in purgatory need our prayer to help their purification and attain in heavenly glory. On November 2nd we celebrate a special Mass at St. Cecilia Cemetery at 11:00 am. and light lunch in the parish hall. We celebrate a Mass of Remembrance on Sunday, November 20.
We ask the saints to intercede for us. We pray for our loved ones who have gone before us. Every Mass there is the place we pray for our loved ones. Please remember our loved one every Mass. Another way, Church invites us to offer Mass in their name. It costs only $ 10.00, but it takes conscious thought and action to do it. Please join for All Saints Day and All Souls Day celebrations.
10/19/2022 0 Comments
We are celebrating Mission Sunday. Mission Sunday invites us to reflect beyond our local church and see the mission of the universal church. Some give to the missions by going. Some go by giving. Mission Sunday is the day to reach out beyond the needs of the local Parish and diocese to assist missionaries as they go and tell in the young churches. Pope Francis urges us to reflect on the theme, “You shall be my witness.” Mission Sunday brings us together to celebrate our faith and support through our prayer and financially Pope Francis's mission.
In his letter, Rev. Msgr. Kieran E. Harrington says the story of Pauline Jaricot. He writes, “In 1822, in a small city of France, laywoman Pauline Jaricot called a group of young women together to pray for missionaries abroad and support them with a penny a week. These efforts helped to build the Church in the United States. Today, we have the same opportunity to Witness Christ by joining in that effort of praying for and promoting foreign missions in our homes and parishes.”
The “You shall be my witness” challenges us to reflect on our faith journey. If we want to be effective witnesses of Christ, we must grow in prayer. As we celebrate World Mission Sunday, first we are called to support the mission through prayer, also support financially, and all other possible ways.
This weekend's reading is on genuine prayer. Prayer is communication with God, being with God. We looked at the different aspects of prayer last weekend. This weekend, the first reading from the Book of Sirach, we are reminded that “The one who serves God willingly is heard.” We see in this passage the complimentarity between liturgical worship and social justice. During the time of Ben Sirach, many Jews were living in the midst of pagans. Eventually, unknowingly the Jews assimilated the pagan culture. So, Ben Sirach taught them how to lead a good life and be faithful Jews. Sirach asserts that God shows no favoritism. He listens to the humble prayers of the poor, fatherless, and widows.
Luke’s Gospel shows special concern for the poor and the outsider. In today’s Gospel, we see the prayer of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The self-righteous, critical attitude of the Pharisees and tax collectors’ humility and dependence on God, guide us to form true and effective prayer. The fundamental attitude of the Christian disciple must be the recognition of sinfulness and complete dependence on God’s graciousness. Jesus warns in Matthew 6:5, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
True and effective prayer demands a humble disposition. The Pharisee in the parable offered thanks to God for his own qualities and success but arrogantly contrasts contrasted his virtues against the tax collector’s sins and shortcomings. Pharisee came with a checklist of his performance.
On the other hand, the tax collector came with a humble and contrite heart. This is the attitude we are called to have when we come for Mass. Every Eucharist starts with a moment of recalling our sins and asking God’s mercy: “Kyrie/Christe, Eleison.” Jesus tells his audience and us, as a result of tax collectors’ humble prayer for mercy, he received mercy and went home truly “justified,” i.e., “reconciled to God.” St. Paul reminds us in Titus 3:5: “Not because of any righteous deeds we have done but because of His mercy, He has saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
In the second reading, Paul sensed the proximity of his own death, like a runner running a race, and that he has kept the Faith right up to this point. He humbly awaits “the crown of righteousness” which is through the grace of God. Paul says, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith!”
Respect Life Month: Inclusion Awareness
10/10/2022 0 Comments
Respect Life Month: Inclusion Awareness
Respect life month invites us to meditate on the dignity of life. On the second weekend of October, we celebrate Inclusion Awareness Day as a part of respect life month. We celebrate life with our ability and disAbilities, our strength and weakness. We are one family. Because we like to see ourselves as young, healthy, and wealthy, sometimes we forget to appreciate the rest of the community. Inclusion Awareness Sunday is an opportunity to reflect on how we include everyone in the community by looking at our abilities rather than disAbilities. How we appreciate the gift of each and every one. In other words, how we celebrate our differences. This weekend’s reading invites us to “do something beautiful for God” by reaching out to others.
Father Henri Nouwen, the founder of Pathways Awareness, remarked that "I was always studying about God and teaching about God to all these bright students. I wanted to be smarter than others. I wanted to show them that I could be "with it". And I suddenly realized that it is not in strength and power that God was coming to me, but in weakness."
Last weekend, we reflected on Faith. Jesus told his disciples, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.” Luke 17:6. Today, the reading invites us to reflect on faith and gratitude. Luke 17:11-19 narrates an incident recounting the faith and thankfulness of the cleansed Samaritan leper. This incident is only in Luke’s gospel. Those who suffered leprosy were outcasts. There were ritually unclean and believed that they were contagious. Leviticus chapter 13 explains what to do if some have an infectious disease. Leviticus 13:45 says, “The garments of one afflicted with a scaly infection shall be rent and the hair disheveled, and the mustache covered. The individual shall cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” The ten lepers stood at a distance and lifted their voice and said, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And his reply was "Go show yourselves to the priests." Leviticus chapter 14 explains the purification after a scaly infection. Leviticus 14:2 says, “This is the ritual for someone that had a scaly infection at the time of that person’s purification. The individual shall be brought to the priest.” So, Jesus asked them to show the priest. The lepers were not cleansed, but they believed and followed his instruction.
The non-Jew is the one who came to express gratitude and was being an example to his Jewish contemporaries. This foreigner was not just cleansed, but he was healed and received salvation. Jesus’ action recalls the incident in the first reading how Elisha cleansed a foreign leper while living in Samaria. Jesus initiates the welcoming of the foreigners into God’s covenant family as prophesied in Isaiah 56:3-8, “…And foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, to become his servants…” It is the faith in Jesus manifested by the foreigner that has brought him salvation. In Luke 7:36-50, a sinful woman expressed her faith and Jesus said to her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
In the second reading, Paul, the apostle of gentiles, offered up his imprisonment as an intercessory prayer for the faithful. Likewise, we must be willing to suffer for the sake of our faith. Suffering is accepted in union with Christ’s cross. Paul used every occasion to proclaim the Gospel, even chains were not an obstacle. The word of God could not be chained.
Let us pray, Lord, give us the grace to ever grow in faith, never fail to recognize your love and mercy, and always proclaim the Gospel. Lord, give us strength to bring others closer to you. Amen.