ASH WEDNESDAY

ASH WEDNESDAY First day of Lent Matthew 6:1-6,16-18 “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” In this ancient formula we are reminded of our mortality and that we shall one day return unto the dust from which man was originally drawn. The ash reminds us that we are not immortal, we are only pilgrims travelling on the journey. One day we will be gone. Ash Wednesday is a reminder of our humanity. It is a day that reminds us we will not be here forever. We have an expiration date thus we are challenge to live the very best everyday. Folks, make the rest of your life the best of your life. For today, I would like to share 5S’s with you guys. The season of Lent reminds us that we are all SINNERS. Sin make us dirty, mortal and weak. Ashes on our foreheads reminds us that we are dirty. We commit mistakes in thoughts, in words and in actions. But no matter how sinful we are; there is a God who always loves and accept us. As St. Paul said: “Where sins abounds, grace abounds all the more.” Friends, Return to the Lord for He is gracious and merciful. Yes, we are all sinners that is why we need to do some SACRIFICES. We need to do something to please our creator. Be reconciled to God and now is the acceptable time. Our Holy mother Church asked us to pray, fast and give alms. Today is the right season to minimize our focus on the worldly affairs and fix our life to spiritual endeavors. Less of inordination worldy concerns and spend more on heavenly reaities. But, in doing so we need to do it in SECRET. Friends, pray in secret, fast in secret and give alms in secret. Showing that we are praying is hypocrisy. Displaying our generosity is pretension. Jesus warns us in the gospel saying: “Beware of practising your piety before people inorder to be seen.” Do not let your right hand knows what your left hand is doing. Finally, when we do some sacrifices we need to accompany it with a big SMILE. When you pray, smile. When you fast, smile. When you give alms, smile. SILENCE and SMILE are two powerful tools. Smile is the way to solve many problems and Silence is the way to avoid many problems. Fellow sinners, do sacrifices but do it in secret and accompany it with a smile. My dear friends, wishing you a blessed Lent. Let me end my reflection by sharing with you three signs of a sincere repentance. 1. CONTRITION. It means, you show a sincere sorrow not by shedding tears but by changing your sinful lifestyle. You are sad because you hurt someone up there who loves you so much. 2. CONFESSION. It is an act of humble recognition of our sinfulness. Naming our sins means accepting our limitations and imperfections. 3. CONVERSION. It means you promise not to do it again. You make an honest oath not to repeat the same mistakes again. Friends, don’t do it again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. Blessings Fr. Jhack

GIVE UP EVERYTHING AND FOLLOW THE LORD

Tuesday of the Eight Week in Ordinary Time: Year C Mark 10:28-31 Friends, it is no easy to give our all but today’s gospel is very reassuring. The promise of Jesus is very clear: No man ever gave up anything for the sake of God and of His good news without getting it back a hundredfold. Our practice of self denial had a reward of eternal life in the age to come. Today, try to practice some sacrifices and self-denial for God’s sake and be surprised of God’s reward. You know what, spending your time in prayer is not a waste of time. Attending daily masses as your personal devotion is not a vain effort. Making yourself the last priority for the sake of others will surely receive hundred more times reward. Suffice it to say, the more we give the more we receive. Friends, let us make our life here on earth a means of storing-up heavenly treasures. Never be afraid to let go of our earthly wealth for Jesus promised us that if we give up this world and chose to follow Him; we will receive more than this world could offer. “The just man’s sacrifice will never be forgotten.” (Sirach 35:6) Challenge: Let us start accumulating spiritual wealth now. How? Give up everything and follow the Jesus. Following the Lord must be our greatest investment. Friends, what are you capable of giving up for Jesus? Blessings Fr. Jhack

DETTACH

Monday of the Eight Week in Ordinary Time: Year C Mark 10:17-27 “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The season of Lent approaches. As we enter this beautiful season we are invited to give our full attention to Jesus. Today’s gospel is teaching us to value the importance of dettachment. Friends, the less attached we are the more joyful we become. Attachments lead to sadness and disappointment. “And he went away sad, for he had many possessions." Our unwillingness to share our blessings with the needy cause us a troubled heart. Friends, never be a prisoner of your possessions. Jesus thus makes it clear that a true follower of His who wants to possess eternal life must share his riches and other blessings with the less fortunate. Our Buddist friends believed that attachment is the cause of all sufferings. Friends, loosen your grip on what is not eternal. Be not entangled of what is temporary. Today if we wish to follow the Lord, let go and let God. “Go sell what you have and give to the poor, and come follow me.” If we have God we are rich. If we have God we are saved! Jesus is all we need. Blessings Fr. Jhack

HOW TO BE A GOOD GUIDE

Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Luke 6:39-45 Some people may judge us by our appearance. Others through the types of gadgets we possess. But how do we really get to know a person? Our first reading tells us that the interior defines the exterior. To know someone it requires us to discover their heart. Wait for the person to open his mouth because “Man can be detected in what he says.” Friends, speech is not just about words and sounds but can be the guiding principle to know one’s heart. Speech is the mirror of the soul. Let us then be careful because our speech can affect the lives of others. Be mindful of the value of human speech. Friends, how pure is your interior? When your heart is troubled your speech is grumbled. “For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart.” How to purify our hearts? Three points we need to consider. First, we need a good guide. “A blind person cannot guide another blind.” Second, we need to get out from the trap of selfrigteousness. Sometimes we are quick to judge but slow to correct ourselves. It’s so easy to see the sin of someone else and point it out but often more difficult to see our own sin. “Friends, being selfrighteous is hypocrisy. Hypocrites are those who conveniently forget their faults to point out someone else. Better to be known as humble sinner than a selfrighteous hypocrite. Counting other peole’s sins does not makes us a saint. Inshort, do not judge another person for what we see in others ussually exist in us. Let us examine our own sins, failures and mistakes. Friends, don’t find fault, find a remedy. Finally, let us use our speech to produce good words. Lord please clean my heart so that my words and deeds may glorify you. Blessings Fr. Jhack

CHILD’S NOISE IS GOD’S VOICE

Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year C Mark 10:13-16 “Let the children come to me for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Some parents never bring their children to the church because of the following reasons: First, they think it’s a disturbance; children can be noisy in church. Second, they cannot contribute to the financial burden of the church. Finally, they need special attention. But amidst of all these reasons, Jesus in todays gospel is telling us: “Do not stop them.” My dear friends, children is a blessing not a problem. Friends, if we prevent the children to come to Jesus we lose the big chance of entering the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." If you don’t teach your children not to follow Christ, the world will teach them not to. As a priest, it gives me great joy to see more children in my parish church. It gives me joy if my parish church is filled with noisy children because it conveys a message that my church is alive. Child’s noise in the church is better than the voice of the choir. The noise of the children is the best and desirable Sunday preaching you should listen to. Why? Because it tells me that the church has a wonderful future. The child’s noise brings a message that the church is not dead. The child’s noise is God’s voice. Make it your practice to bring your children into the house of God. Blessings Fr. Jhack

MARRIAGE IS FOREVER

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year C Mark 10:1-12 “What God has joined together, let no one separate.” To all the husbands, your wife is your forever. To all the wives, your husband is your eternity. Sometimes your marriage will be tested by different waves and forms of struggles but separation or divorce is not the best solution. If there is a failure in your relationship, start again fix it and give each other a chance to be better. Make a resolve to work together in good times and in bad. There is no perfect marriage and when storms attack your married life learn to dance and bend in humility and give your marriage a music to succeed. Friends, divorce is like an amputation. You survive but there is a less of you. To all the couples, our gospel is reminding you guys that that best gift you can give to your kids is a happy marriage. God created us to relate not to separate. “What God has joined together, let no one separate.”Friends, marriage is a divine institution and no human power can dissolve it. Divorce is as painful as death because it is a death without a burial. Today and for eternity dont forget to tell your spouse that you love him/her everyday. If in case you forgot, let me refresh you of this: “I, ___ do you take you as my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold, to this day onward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?” Blessings Fr. Jhack

CUT IT OFF

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year C Mark 9:41-50 Jesus in today’s gospel inviting us to give taste to peoples lives by being salt. Nowadays, good number of our faithful had lost their faith because of some church scandals and bad examples cause by few church leaders. As a result, their faith turns bland, some stop going to church, others change religion and worst others denied the existence of God and draw them away from the Christian community. Today our readings gives us the perfect hint on how to restore the sweet flavour of our christian catholic faith. Three importhing things we need to consider. First, lets do acts of charity like giving a glass of water to someone who is thirsty. We have to put value more on people than things. What is interesting to note here is that, charity benefits the giver more than the receiver. Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards heaven. “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose their reward.” By doing simple charity we set a good example for others to follow. Charity is our perfect testimony to Jesus Christ. Second, we give taste to our brethren by avoiding a scandal. Jesus warns His disciples not to give a bad influence and example that might lead others to sin. Woe to us if we are the stumbling block for others to enter God’s kingdom. Shame on us if we are the reason why others are deprived of God’s beautiful gift of salvation. Its a great horror if we are an obstacle to others and block their path to heaven. Friends we will lose our place in the kingdom if ourselves are the main reason for others to fall into sin. Whatever cause us to sin, cut it off! Finally, our first reading reminds especially those who are affluent who exploit and manipulate the poor to enrich themselves that deceiving others to gain more money is evil. The message is very clear: use your money to help people. Never use people to make more money. Money is good but too much love for it makes our life complicated and salty. “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.” Friends, “keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another." Blessings Fr. Jhack

DO NOT STOP HIM

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year C Mark 9:38-40 “Whoever is not against us is for us” Life is not a competition yet for some of us we live as if it were. We think that we are better compared to others. Our gospel for today is reminding us that if an outsider performs a good deeds using God’s name “do not stop them.” Goodness is the language that everbody understand. Three things I would like to share. First, part of our mission is driving out evil influences in us and in our community. Friends be mindful that evil is everywhere. Let us fill our life with God. “If God is with us who can be against us.” Second, never be envious with people who are doing Godly thing even if they don’t belong to our circle. You know what, evil begins when we treat others with envy. Let us get rid of our prejudices and biases towards other’s beliefs. The Lord makes it clear with His disciples, “do not forbid him for no one who works miracle in my name can soon after speak evil of me.” Friends, the message of today’s gospel is very clear: never prevent someone from driving away evil spirits even if they don’t belong to our group. Finally, doing good has no boundary and jurisdiction. Good deeds is our glorious task. Even if our kindness would not be acknowledge by anyone, remember that someone in heaven smiles for what you have done. Keep doing good stuff even if others hates you. The good we do today often will be forgotten tomorrow but keep doing good anyway. Be mindful of this my dear friends, doing good, does you good. Blessings Fr. Jhack

PRIMACY OF PETER

The Chair of St. Peter the Apostle Matthew 16:13-19 Today’s the church celebrates the Primacy of St. Peter. Like Peter we are challenge to make a declaration of faith. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Friends, our faith requires us to make a personal testimony. Its not enough to answer the questions of faith but let us be a witness of it. knowing is not enough. We should go beyond the knowing level by our actions. We are called to be a rock like Peter. To be like rock means to be firm with our faith. Let no one moves you. Be firm with your faith. Never switch your faith. Friends, let us be a witness of our faith faith. How? Let me took the answers from our first reading of today. It says: “Do not lord it over those in your charge but be examples to the flock.” To be an authentic witness of our faith means, to be an example to others. Brethren, we can attract others not by our ideas and opinions but by our witnessing. Our actions are the most powerful words. We are not called to dominate but to serve. The best influencer are the doers. People may doubt what we say but they will always believe on what we do. Being a good example is the most excellent form of service. Performance is greater than theory. Today, lead by example. We are what we do; not what we say. It is our actions that defines our identity. Do what you say because our supremacy lies in the power and authencity of our performance. Blessings Fr. Jhack

HOW TO FORGIVE?

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Luke 6:27-38 Let me start with this story: From his death bed, the husband called his wife and said, "One month after I die I want you to marry Samy." "Samy! But he is your enemy !" "Yes, I know that! I've suffered all these years so let him suffer now ." Smiling, shaking hands, hugging our friends is very easy. Everybody can do that. It is easy to love people who are lovable right? But how about those unlovable? “if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?” How are we to treat them? First, do good to them, second, bless them and third, pray for them. Inshort, we have to return mercy. As St. Thomas Aquinas once said: “Mercy is love’s second name.” Friends, loving our enemies is the perfect path towards perfection. It is difficult but its not impossible. It is contrary to human nature but that is what He demanded of us. Try it! It is liberating. What should be our behaviour towards difficult people? Three points I wanted to share with you today. First, our gospel is telling us not to take revenge. “If your enemies are hungry feed them, if they are thirsty give them something to drink. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. Doing good must be our sweetest revenge for love is the weakess of the devil. Second, we are encourage to pray for someone who does not like us. Some people are unreasonable, illogical and self centered. Pray them anyway. If we wish to take revenge do it by praying. Friends put smile in your prayers too. When someone curses you, smile. When someone hates you, smile. When someone persecute you and say ill-words against you, smile. Going to church for worship but not forgiving someone is a fake worship. Loving God yet hating our enemies is hypocrisy. Love is shown in deeds not in words. Life is like an echo. We get what we give! “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Whenever we are confronted with an opponent conquer them with love. Friends, keep loving your renemies for love is the force that capable of transforming an enemy to a friend. Finally, think of this: enemies are angels sent by God to show his love and mercy. Enemies are chance and opportunity for us to enter the gate of heaven. Be kind to the unkind because they need it the most. Loving our enemies and those who hurt us is never easy. But Jesus usually does not ask us to do the easy thing; he asks us to do whatever brings about the most love. Blessings Fr. Jhack

LISTEN

Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C Mark 9:2-13 “This is my beloved Son, Listen to Him.” This is our call not only today but every day. We are deeply challenged to listen to the voice of God. Our world nowadays is very noisy: so much voices to listen to. Friends, do not let the voice of the world keep us from hearing the voice of God. What I am trying to tell you folks is this: to hear God’s voice, we must turn down the world’s volume. Proverbs 3:6 says “Listen for God’s voice in everything you do and everywhere you go; He is the one that will keep you on track.” The quieter we become, the more we can hear. “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” Listen to Jesus and follow Him. This is the message of today’s gospel. Friends, change is possible if we listen to the right voice. Just a simple reminder, sometimes God stays silent until we are ready to listen. God gave us mouth that is close and ears to tell us to listen more and speak less. The smarter you get, the less you speak. Friends, listen more than you speak. And you know what, God speaks to those who take time to listen. And He listen to those who takes time to pray. Friends, God sees your struggles, keep talking to Him and listen for His directions. “This is my belived Son, Listen to Him.” Today, spend your time in listening for there is a voice that does not use words. Sometimes people just need someone to listen. No advice. No words. Just an ear. LISTEN! NB: Listening is the beginning of prayer. Blessings Fr. Jhack