7 TH SUNDAY: HOMILY: YEAR [A] (FEB. 19) HOLINESS IS ALWAYS IN SEASON; IT IS NEVER OUT OF FASHION

7 ^TH SUNDAY: HOMILY: YEAR [A]

(FEB. 19)

 Holiness is always in season; it is never out of fashion

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON

# Entrance antiphon uses the phrase: “O Lord I trust in your MERCIFUL LOVE

# God’s compassion, mercy, righteousness, Justice are characteristic expression of his holiness (Ex 34:5-7;Num 14:18 Is 5:16).

# Only a person who is holy can be merciful and loving. God is holy (Is 6:3) that is why he is merciful and loving.

COLLECT

# In the collect we find the phrase: always pondering spiritual things….

# Only a holy person will be able to always ponder on spiritual things.

THE FIRST READING (Lev 19:1-2, 17-18)

# Lord says: you shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy

# A holy person will not hate his brother or sister

# A holy person will use his reason in dealing with his neighbor

# A holy person will not take vengeance or bear any grudge against his   neighbor

# A holy person will love his/her neighbor as he/she loves himself/herself

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: (Ps. 102)

# The psalmist is inviting us to bless the Lord’s holy name.

# God, in the burning bush, by letting his name “I AM” be known to Moses tried to tell us that holiness is within the reach of the people, that holiness does not distance itself from ordinary life.

# The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy–these should be the characteristics of a holy person.

THE SECOND READING (1 Cor 3:16-23)

# The second reading says that we are God’s temple and that God’s spirit    dwells in us

# And this God’s temple is holy and we are that temple

# The second part speaks about wisdom and foolishness; for wisdom does not reside in a sinful heart

# Wisdom 1:4 Wisdom will never enter the soul of a wrong-doer, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin.

ACCLAMATION

# If anyone loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and shall come to him.

# A holy person loves God and keeps his word.

 Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect 

# A person who lives a holy life will not measure in giving. He/she will be generous. He/she will go an extra mile. He/she will go out of his/her way and help others like mother Teresa.

# A person who lives a holy life will be able to love his/her enemies, will pray for those who persecute him/her

# “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavily father is perfect” is nothing but holiness of life.

# On being asked as to what he wants to become when he grows up, a child will say he wants to be a hero, an astronaut, a sports star, a rich man, a scientist, somebody great, a “superman”. These people are for that child those who are perfect in their own way.

# For a Christian, what is true perfection? Christ’s words are clear, sublime, and disconcerting: “Be perfect, as you heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). To have God as your model of perfection!

# Yet the Second Vatican Council has already reminded us: “All the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his own way, to that perfect holiness whereby the Father himself is perfect” (Lumen Gentium, 11).

Holiness is always in season; it is never out of fashion

# The Church reminds us that holiness is not the concern of a privileged few, nor does it pertain only to Christians of the past. Holiness is always in season; it is and always will be a call to every Christian of every age, a challenge that remains current for anyone who desires to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

# Pope Benedict XVI says: “Holiness . . . never goes out of fashion; on the contrary, with the passage of time it shines out ever more brightly, expressing man’s perennial effort to reach God.”

# And Mother Teresa of Calcutta wrote: “Holiness is not something extraordinary; it is not the luxury of the few. Holiness is the simple duty for each one of us.”

# It is not true that holiness is impossible. Just read the lives of the saints and see how they, above all, experienced the very same difficulties and weaknesses that we do. Nevertheless, they succeeded in meriting the name of saints.

Be saints…………

# “No Christian can prefer the easy path of mediocrity over the difficult road of perfection” (Pope Paul VI).

Pope John Paul II said, “where the saints walk, God walks together with them.” And all of us need to be saints, because the world is in need of saints. The world needs the testimony of saints. Only new saints are capable of renewing the world.

# “No Christian can prefer the easy path of mediocrity over the difficult road of perfection” (Pope Paul VI).

# “It is easier to be a saint than to be mediocre”, says Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini.

Our God is a Holy God

#Holiness is an attribute of God. Only God is truly holy (Is 6:3).

# The places where God appears, the things he touches become holy (cf. Gen 28:16; Ex 3:4; Lev 16:12).

#The tabernacle where he dwelt became “holy of holies” the hotspot of God’s presence (Ex 26:33-34), the temple was seen as a holy place (1 Cor 29:3; Is 64:10), the altar and the ministers of God’s worship are rendered holy (Ex 40; Lev 8-9).

# Holiness of God is revealed all through the scripture right from the book of Genesis up to the book of Revelation.

# Human beings have profaned the holiness of God among the nations and God wants to use human beings to spread his holiness among the people (Eze 36:23; 20:41, 36:27; Is 40:25-26, 41:13-16).

# In front of God’s infinite holiness human beings are brought face-to face with their sinfulness (cf. Ex 34:30—35; Mk9:1-7).

# Holiness of God can be understood by using the sun as a metaphor. If you get too close you will be destroyed.

# If we approach the all holy God with all the sins in our souls, we will be destroyed. If you are impure his presence is dangerous. It is not because the sun is bad but because it is so good.

# In the burning bush we see God telling Moses to take off his sandals because the ground on which he stood was a holy ground. Moses covers his face and God tells “don’t come any closer.”

How can you be a holy Person?

# Book of Leviticus is all about how to become pure from ritually impure state so that you can go to the temple once again.

# Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." ⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" ⁶ Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven."  (Isa 6:1 RSV)

# Isaiah is not destroyed by God’s holiness but he is transformed. If you touch some impure things, your body becomes impure but holiness of God transforms him

# In the BOOK OF EZEKIEL we find a stream flowing out from inside the temple which is a holy place…… And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. ¹¹ But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. ¹² And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing." (Eze 47:1 RSV)

# When the holiness of god touches us we cannot but change for the better.

# Like the water that came out from the temple and made gave life, JESUS came from heaven, all holy God and gave us life to the full.

The Church’s experience shows that every form of holiness, even if it follows different paths, always passes through the Way of the Cross, the way of self-denial. The saints’ biographies describe men and women who, docile to the divine plan, sometimes faced unspeakable trials and suffering, persecution and martyrdom.

# Holiness demands a constant effort, but it is possible for everyone because, rather than a human effort, it is first and foremost a gift of God, thrice Holy (cf. Is 6:3).

# Consequently, the more we imitate Jesus and remain united to him, the more we enter into the mystery of his divine holiness.

#All Christians, called to holiness, are men and women who live firmly anchored to Christ the “Rock”, their feet on the ground but their hearts already in Heaven, the final dwelling-place of friends of God.

#Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran, a young Ecuadorian lay woman, already at a very early age, in receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, she felt clearly in her heart the call to live a life of holiness and devotion to God. To sustain the Holy Spirit’s action in her soul with docility, she always sought the counsel and guidance of good and expert priests, considering spiritual direction as one of the most effective means to arrive at holiness.

Form your conscience if you want to be a holy person

#Holiness begins with our CONSCIENCE.

#Our conscience in the inner voice  of God that detects moral violation

#Our conscience is soul’s warning system

#If we want to grow in holiness daily, we need to form our conscience well. If you want to be holy win the battle in you inside that is at the level of your conscience.

#To reject the voice of conscience is nothing but suicide.

#Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

#Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Heb 9:14 RSV)

#Pilots are always alert to the information coming from the radar in order to avoid accident.

#Our conscience is radar.

#…Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith, (1Ti 1:18 RSV)

#They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them (Rom 2:15 RSV)

#Acts 23:1 Paul looked steadily at the Sanhedrin and began to speak, 'My brothers, to this day I have conducted myself before God with a perfectly clear conscience.' (Act 23:1 NJB)

#So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men. (Act 24:16 RSV)

#I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, as did my fathers, when I remember you constantly in my prayers. (2Ti 1:3 RSV)

#Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1Pe 3:21 RSV)

Lear from your Founder

# Our founder St. John Bosco was a very holy man. His words and his actions were expressions of his holiness. He not only became a saint but he made others saints; best example is Dominic Savio who became a saint at a very young age. There is no age limit for attaining holiness of life.

Invoke Mary: “Mother most pure! Pray for us sinners.”

# In particular, let us invoke MARY, MOTHER of the Lord and mirror of all holiness. May she, the All Holy, make us faithful disciples of her Son Jesus Christ! Amen.

Holiness

Homily: 7^th Sunday: Year A

God wants us to be holy           (Reflections from Fr. Anil Dev.)

# “Even before the world was made God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ so that we would be holy and blameless before him.” (Eph 1: 4)

# Jeremiah says that when he was in his mother’s womb God called/ chose him

# Paul goes beyond mother’s womb and says even before the foundation of the world God has chosen us to be his, to be holy

# In fact we read in John 15:16 I have chosen you and I have appointed you

# The quality of our life as Christians, as religious, as priest would depend on the right perception of our vocation

# We should have a right understanding of our vocation. If we don’t have a right understanding of our vocation then we will not be able to live up to its demands.

# So God says: “I chose you.” God who is almighty, who is all knowing has chosen us.  We should become more and more conscious that we have been appointed by God as Christians, priests or religious not by my Bishop, my provincial, sister superior, catechist, my parents. 

# I could have been a hindu, or muslim like Joseph Mario who was once a Muslim but today he is a saintly catholic

# The more we grow in this consciousness the more seriously commit ourselves to this vocation.

# Fortunately or unfortunately we have a beautiful saying की प्रभु की दाखबरी में कम करने के लिए प्रभु ने मुझे बुलाया है/ क्या के लिए बुलाया? कम करने के लिए बुलाया

# Fr. Thomas Ekka’s (sdb, IND) mother remarked: “a priest should have a Bible, Holy Water, and a rosary.” I was shocked at this. Such a high theological statement came out from an ordinary Christian mother.  

# 1 Peter 1:15-16: The one who has called you is holy therefore, be holy

# Note the word of Peter: “The one who has called you is holy” and so he has called us for a holy purpose and not otherwise. God does not want our work without holiness.

# Our words, our action, our works, should be an overflow of our holiness / an expression of our holiness as was in the case of our Lord

# So no compromise as far as holiness is concerned. We wait for a most convenient time to go for a confession or spiritual renewal. A man came to a priest and spoke about his life and the father told that man, “my dear man you are in a misery. You need to go for a spiritual renewal.” And that man says: “unless that building is complete I cannot go out from here.” Then the priest said: “you are a foolish man. If the doctor declares that you have a blood cancer will you wait for that building to be completed?

# No compromise as far as holiness is concerned.

# We should be honest enough to go for a renewal if we are going through disintegrity. Yes my dady/ my mummy/ my brother/my sister….. has gone for a retreat for a spiritual retreat. He will come back and be a committed member in the family, in the congregation, in the institution.

# As far as the individual conscious is concerned no one will come and tell you when you are sick. We have to go to our parents/ or our superior to take us to the hospitals. So no one will come and ask you whether you are spiritually sick or at ease.

# We have to take that responsibility of renewal let us not make compromise. It is not worth.  We go on working and working and working जब कत जिन्दा रहेंगे कम करेंगे. क्या जिन्दा है?  तू तो लाश है .

# No grace on the face, no grace in action, no grace in words, we all have problems. Some have big, some have small ones. Some may take long time, some may take short time. But the important question is that we working at it daily.

# Tell your parents, your superiors, “I need to go for a spiritual renewal so that I can study better; I can perform my duty as per the will of God.”

# As we are growing older and older we should see a remarkable growth in our holiness. What I was 10 years ago what I was 5 years ago what I was last year and what I am today there should be a growth

# By the time we die we should be Jesus. What is the use of following a person whom you can never catch up? What is the use of walking behind a person whom you can never catch up?

# The people who carry our body should feel privileged.

# When Mother Teresa died everyone wanted to carry her body. People from her native land asked for the body. Finally our army carried her body. What a privilege!

# On the tomb of Saint Alphonsa they say that there is a photo of her first death anniversary and it was a large gathering so she was not an ordinary nun.

# She was the most beautiful girl of that area from a rich family. Her mother died from the childhood and her aunt wanted to get her married to a very rich man but she did not want. She hurt herself by putting her legs in the fire. Her toes got disintegrated and she managed to convince her aunt and she became a sister. 

# After profession she was in a bed she could not do any work

# At the age of 35 she died. She did not have a public life. She was confide to her bedroom. And how come on her first death anniversary so many people could gather. It was nothing but her holiness. Her holiness went beyond the grave.

#  “And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.” (Eze 36:23 RSV)

# The two points to be noted

1.   I will use you to show that nation that I am holy

2.   You profaned me amidst the nation

# In the book of Daniel king Nebuchadnezzar recognized God through Daniel. After Daniel was taken out of the pit of the lions Nebuchadnezzar declared something that is so wonderful. He said: “All my people in my nation  shall honour the God of Daniel.” 

# So our God is worshiped through you and me not through my sermons and homilies and advice. Even Nebuchadnezzar who was so cruel in his own ways said that all shall worship the God of Daniel.

# So he is asking: My dear son and daughter can you give me your life, your body, your thoughts, your action, your plan into my hands so that I can prove my holiness. 

Today people hardly believe that holiness is possible especially in this mobile age. 

# World does not believe that holiness is possible. The devil will show you. See so and so. He/she is preaching on holiness but inside he is rotten. See your uncle, see your superior, how he/she is living. 

# But we can be sure, the more you try to become holy the more temptations will come. Temptation can come from anywhere; from anyone; maybe from our own close companions. Same thing happened to Jesus. His own close friend Peter said “Lord this should not happen to you” – and Jesus said to him: “Get behind me satan.”

# And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (Jos 3:5 RSV)

# God wants to work wonders in your families, in your communities, in your parish but the Lord says you sanctify yourself

# Hebrews 12: 14 try to be at peace with everyone and try to live a holy life because no one will see the Lord without it

# Two important points

1.   try to be at peace with everyone

2.   and try to live a holy life

# Peace with one another and holiness of life go hand in hand

# Reconciliation and holiness go hand in hand  

# First step towards holiness is reconciliation.

# When we have serious problem with relationship it affects our integrity first.

# Community life is essential for a holy life; family life is essential for a holy life

# We read in Genesis: that God created man and he found that the man was alone and God said it is not good for man to be alone. It does not necessarily mean that he needs to marry. Don’t misunderstand the text.

# We are called to be a part of the family; we are called to be a social being. We need a community, we need a family, and we need to be supported by people if you need to live a holy life.

# If we have individual tendencies in us; we should gradually get rid of that

# It is a very good safeguard for the protection in the area of chastity.

# St. Paul says that try to live a holy life. We have to try; holiness is not hanging in the air we need to make efforts.

# Few things are very important

# Control over our senses:  the Lord says that the eyes are the lamp of the body; if the eyes are ok the whole body is ok.

# Use of media and internet facilities:  Programs in the TV are sponsored by industrialists. They are not interested in the morality of youths and people. They are interested in selling their goods and products.

# For selling their products if they have to strip a man or a woman they don’t mind. All they want is to sell their products and you and me go and watch those programmes.

# Beauty context! It is an industry. It is all commerce. It’s all making money. And those handful people so called the industrialists want to pollute the entire globe.

# So many youths have destroyed their life at a very tender age, 14, 15.

# Many young people are having aids, only sons, only daughters.

# We need to choose, if your stomach is not good we cannot take chilly. 

# See to it that no one fail to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” spring up and cause trouble, and by it the many become defiled; (Heb 12:15 RSV)

# When the evil, the “root of bitterness” is small we need to uproot it immediately

# The devil should hear that holiness is possible
# How is holiness possible? In union with Christ Jesus 

Some Stray thoughts 

# Show the other cheek: do we have to show the other cheek as Jesus is saying? Just look at the cross. Did he retaliate with those who mocked him and  killed him? This is the way to become a holy person. Break the chain of violence. Not "eye for an eye" or "tooth for a tooth" but by loving your enemies.

# The Greeks used to say: “Gods did not have to change.” Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Change your ways. It is not the perfection the Greeks understood but the perfection of giving rain and sunshine to good and evil people alike; giving even when they don't deserve it.