(from the bulletin)

I can’t believe that 2011 is over and 2012 a new chapter in the history has begun. It is better to give a good start with strong faith in God, rather than filling our mind with anxiety, how this year would be. It is also better to begin the New Year with firm resolution to do good and avoid evil which would cause pain to oneself and to others. It is better to strive to do what we would like others do to us. At the dawn of New Year, I wish you all God’s special blessings that all your good intentions may be fulfilled so as to make your life more prosperous, successful and healthy physically, psychologically, spiritually and also materially.

It is six months, since I have come to serve you in this parish. At this moment I am happy to recall that so many good things have been fulfilled thanks to your dedication. Let me frankly state that I am impressed by your sense of belonging, which motivates you to support this parish community through your contributions, to do voluntary services for building up this community both materially and spiritually. May God bless you and reward you for your good works.

On the first day of the New Year, the Catholic Church honors the Most Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. It was not her choice but it was God’s gracious choice that Mary became the Mother of Jesus, who is God. Fundamentalists often assert that Mary did not carry God in her womb, but only carried Jesus with human nature. It was invented by Nestorius and caused a heresy called Nestorianism in the beginning of the 5th century. His teaching was condemned as heretical at the First Council of Ephesus in 431 and at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The title “Mother of God” (Theotokos) for Mary was confirmed by the First Council of Ephesus. The Council decreed that Mary is the Mother of God because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human. May Mary, Our Mother be our stronghold and our perpetual help in our journey during this New Year.

On this New Year day Pope Benedict XVI calls for solidarity and peace among people of all nations. He recalls that modern times are filled with all manner of suffering, some of which were provoked by human evil and others were caused by nature. As followers of Christ and faithful members of the Catholic Church we are called to be instruments of peace within our own parish community and in the world at large. It requires of us that we always remain at war with our vices and at peace with our neighbors.

A new beginning is the best time to wish peace to one another and let the same friendship grow in the days to come.

Wishing you a Grace-filled year 2012
Fr. Arul Joseph V.

(from the bulletin)
When we think of Christmas, the first thought that comes to mind is to rejoice. “Do not be afraid I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Lk 2:10). This was the message of the angels to the shepherds. The message which the angels spoke to the shepherds two thousand years ago is also spoken to us today. It is a good news of great joy. The angel told the shepherds ‘Do not be afraid’. Yes, this message has come to a frightened world. Like the shepherds we are perplexed and anxious and afraid of many things. We are afraid of other people, we are afraid for the security of our lives, of our jobs and positions. We are anxious about the future, the future of our children and our health. As we grow older, health becomes a continuous cause of anxiety. It is at this point that Christmas brings good news of great joy.

The shepherds spread the message of joy about the baby and those who heard were all amazed. Hence to celebrate Christmas is to share the good news of great joy with the people who have no joy in their lives. The message of Christmas is that God has come down to us in our lowliness, in our poverty and in our misery. The joy of Christmas is not for a day or a season. It is an eternal joy, a joy that no one can take from us because it is the joy of Jesus Christ himself made present in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. The Lord gives us a supernatural joy which neither pain, nor sorrow can diminish and which neither life nor death can take away.

Our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude for the greatest gift, God could possibly give us – his beloved son Jesus. We can praise and thank God our Father for the fact that the Son of God has freely and joyfully assumed our human nature in order to fill our life with divine joy and peace.

On this happy and joyful occasion, I like to thank many of our parishioners who give their time, talent and treasure in order to keep parish going and to accomplish many of the parochial activities. Many of you come to the Church and go home day after day and week after week. But there is no chance for you to know those who work in the parish office, in the sacristy, in the altar, in and around the Church to keep it clean, those volunteers who are ready to help whenever their service is required. They all work behind the screen with generosity and love for the parish community. They share their time and talents with great joy. On this happy occasion of Christmas, I want to thank every one of them. I wish and pray that The Lord may bless them and their families copiously. You too could give them great joy, if you would appreciate these generous people.

May the joy of Christ’s birth fill you all.
Fr. Arul Joseph V.

(from the Bulletin)

The Entrance antiphon for this fourth Sunday of Advent sounds, “Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior. This poetic Advent invocation presents twofold movement of the mystery of Incarnation, presented in today’s Gospel (Lk 1:26-28): It portrays the initiative of salvation which comes from God and Mary’s unconditional response which is a participation in the saving plan.

The first part of the Entrance song, “Let the clouds rain down the Just One,” refers to the initiative of the Father through the Holy Spirit, his creative power. The Holy Spirit overshadows Mary and makes the incarnation of the Divine Son possible. As the creative origin of life, the Holy Spirit fills Mary with divine energy and forms the flesh and blood of Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, in her virginal womb. It is the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit that performs the greatest miracle in the history of humankind: the mystery of the Incarnation. Thus God initiates the New Creation.

The second part of the Entrance song, “(let) the earth bring forth a Savior,” is a symbolic way of presenting Mary‘s participation in the miracle of life. By her unconditional surrender to the Will of God, Mary is like “the earth that opens up.” The Gospel passage about the Annunciation focuses on Mary’s vocation as Mother and Disciple. Her vocation is marked with her total openness to the creative action of the Holy Spirit. In the same way her unreserved surrender to the divine plan, expressed in her reply to the angel, “May it be done to me according to your word,” enabled the Rose of Judah, Jesus Christ, to bud forth from the stem of Jesse and from David’s royal clan. The birth of Jesus through a woman would fulfill the Lord’s promise spoken to David through the prophet Nathan (cf. Is 7:14). In the words of St. Paul, the promised Messiah made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary is the mystery kept for endless ages but now fully revealed.

The first reading from the Book of Samuel proclaims that King David proposed to build a house or temple for God. But, God chose instead to build the house of David. The Virgin Mary of Nazareth, the woman chosen by God to bear his only begotten Son, teaches us how to become “God’s house” in our own fragile flesh. Like Mary, do we commit ourselves in faith and loving service to build up “God’s house” in our inmost self and in the hearts of all?

God bless you
Fr. Arul Joseph V.

Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as the Gaudete Sunday (Rejoicing Sunday), because a tone of joy pervades the liturgical celebration.

The mission of the Messiah as “giving joy” is depicted in a poetic form by Isaiah, in the First Reading: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God” (Is 61:1-2). Moreover, he describes in a nuptial imagery, the salvific experience and joy that would result from the messianic intervention: “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels” (Is 61:10-11).

The recipients of joy through the mission of the Messiah are the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners and those who mourn. The poor are known as anawim of the Messiah. Who are they? They are the ones who humble themselves realizing their own helplessness and dire need, and acknowledging the benevolent kindness of Yahweh, seek and wait for his coming. The salvific intervention of the Messiah in their behalf through healing, liberating and consoling mission results in abounding joy and exultation.

To add up to the rejoicing mood of the liturgy, the Canticle of Mary is sung as the responsorial psalm. The singing of the Magnificat on Gaudete Sunday reinforces the character of joy that the church receives as a gift from the anointing spirit of Jesus.

The Gospel passage read in today’s liturgy is taken from the Prologue of St. John depicting the identity of Jesus (Jn 1:6-8,19-28). John the Baptist, as sent by God, is presented as an instrument of messianic revelation and as a witness of the true light, Jesus Christ. As forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist is the precursor of joy. Indeed, in his ministry of preparing the way of the Lord, he experiences the selfless joy of the bridegroom’s friend. This is affirmed by his own statement later: “I myself am not the Christ. I am the one who has been sent in front of him. The bride is only for the bridegroom, and yet the bridegroom’s friend, who stands there and listens, is glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. The same joy I feel, and now it is complete” (Jn 3:28-29). This Sunday invites us to participate in the nuptial joy of Christ, the bridegroom of the Church.
God bless you
Fr. Arul Joseph V.

Bulletin Message for December 4, 2011

John the Baptist, who is the prominent figure in the Gospel passage, this Sunday, fulfils a very important and vital ministry of a precursor. As a voice crying out in the wilderness, he heralded the coming of the mighty one who is to come. According to St. Mark, the evangelist, he is depicted as “clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist.” His clothing is reminiscent of the prophet Elijah (Cf. 2 Kgs 1:8). In this way, Mark presents him as the new Elijah, the precursor who would pave the way for the coming of the Messiah. As we continue in our spiritual journey in the Advent season, the prophetic exhortation of the one who cried out in the wilderness resounds anew in the depths of our heart: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”

What does it mean for us? It means that we are given the task of preparing the Lord’s way in our hearts and in our lives. We should first seek him in our prayer, serve him in our brothers and sisters, and follow him with a committed heart. It means, therefore, a call to personal conversion as well as a vocation to proclaim the message of consolation.

The Prophet Isaiah in the first reading is asked to “Prepare in the wilderness a way for Yahweh”. It evokes the salvific experience of the people of Yahweh in their exodus through the desert to the Promised Land. The one to lead them is no longer the cloud and pillar of fire, but God himself who comes with power and rules by his strong arm. The beautiful description of the mighty leader of the new Exodus is truly comforting and heartwarming: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs” (Is 40:11). In fact this prophecy of hope is resounded anew in John the Baptist’s cry in the wilderness concerning “the mightier one” who is to come after him. One can easily believe that this consoling prophecy is radically fulfilled in Christ the Messiah, the “Lamb of God” and the “Good Shepherd” of the new flock, the Church.

We are asked to conduct ourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for the day of the Lord. Hence the Advent call to “Prepare the way of the Lord” is an invitation for personal conversion. It is also a call to lift up our eyes and see our remarkable destiny in the “new heaven and new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pt 3:13).
God bless you
Fr. Arul Joseph V.

Today we begin a new liturgical year, a year of celebrations by which the Church celebrates the mystery of Christ. Through the liturgical year, the community of believers, who listen to the saving Word, are nourished by the Eucharist and become more and more immersed into the life of Christ and through him, into the life of the Holy Trinity. Sunday, the Lord’s Day, is the preeminent day for the community to listen to the Word of God and take part in the Eucharist. Thus calling to mind the passion, resurrection of our Lord Jesus, we are immersed into life-changing transformation.

The Advent season, which begins the liturgical year, is replete with Christian hope and grace. The hope entails, however, accountability for the present moment. Christians live in the time between the now of Jesus’ victory over sin and death and the not-yet of his return in glory. The challenge of the Advent season is to see how we live creatively and dutifully as God’s children in this in-between time. According to the Gospel reading, our Advent expectation for the coming of Christ must be marked by a state of readiness in preparation for the end time.

As Advent message Jesus says, “Wake up!” He did not mean that this life was a nightmare from which we would do well to awaken; Jesus had no hatred of this life. Rather he meant that by being asleep we were missing the wonder of what God was doing. He meant something like that great line in Genesis, “Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!’” (28:16).

Christians are called to be in a state of vigil. Our life is a long Advent expectation as we wait for the Lord to be revealed in all his glory. The Lord Jesus exhorts his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” Keeping watch is one of the most important activities of the human heart; it is a focusing of energy that endeavors to rid the night of the evil spirits; Watching in prayer indicates giving our attention to God and to others.

According to St. Paul in the second reading (I Cor1:3-9), we are not lacking in any spiritual gift, because we have been enriched in every way. He will keep us firm to the end and irreproachable on the great day of the Lord. The expressions “the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” and “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” which St. Paul used are allusions to the final time of judgment and salvation. In our loving vigil for the final advent of the Lord, we are encouraged to trust in God who is faithful.

According to Pope John Paul II, “… it is fitting that we pause for a moment, at the beginning of Advent, to rediscover God’s plan, to make a generous effort of establishing our identity as God’s elect by the life we live, each has received for the common good from the Spirit.”

God bless you
Fr. Arul Joseph V.

This Sunday is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The liturgical year is centered on the saving events of Jesus Christ; it starts with the season of Advent, preparation for the birth of Jesus and culminates in the celebration of the solemnity of Christ the King. It is not just the title of Christ that is the object of the celebration but his person and the global mystery of the Risen One at the right hand of the Father, who came, who comes, and who will come again. Our celebration of his kingship intensifies our expectation of his coming again in glory. The kingship of Christ has nothing in common with the images of absolute power, luxury and splendor associated with the concept of king.

The Gospel reading describes the last judgment scene with a different kind of king: a shepherd-king who exercises his power and authority in favor of his people and whose sole criterion for judging our worthiness for citizenship in his kingdom is our exercise of love. By his words and acts, he never stopped teaching that the kingdom has been prepared for the little and poor ones, to whom God will do justice. The judgment scene, as shown in the Gospel, is the summit of this teaching and further enhances it. Indeed, the evangelist shows that all will be judged on what they will have done or not done for those who were hungry and thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, prisoners, those whom from the beginning of his ministry Jesus declared blessed.

Christ is King. This title refers to the concept of God as Shepherd-King of his people, who tends the frailest sheep of his flock. The king is the one who does justice to the poor, defenseless and those threatened by injustice, whom he protects against the powerful. God is this perfect king who acts with mercy, compassion and tenderness.

As the liturgical year comes to an end, the Gospel reaffirms us in our faith in Christ as the crowned King, our Lord and Savior. We meet with our less fortunate brothers and sisters as we commute to our specific occupations, as we walk on a busy sidewalk or perhaps in the same home we reside in. The least of our brethren may vary for each of us, as we come from different walks of life and move in different spheres. Today we are confronted with the question, “What have we done to the least of our brethren?”

God bless you

Fr. Arul Joseph V.

At the beginning of my message for this Sunday, I would like to thank all those who gave their time and talents to make the event on November 5^th dinner a grand success. Though it was fund-raising event for the parish, I was very happy to see many of you personally involved in this. I appreciate very much every one of you, who has shared your time and talent in one way or other. It is such a sense of belongingness which is needed to build up the parish community. Your involvement was the real source of my strength. I have no doubt that such events provide an opportunity to bring the parishioners together. Bishop William Callahan and other priests, who came, expressed their great appreciation for your involvement. I am very happy and I thank you all, in particular, the Fund-raising Committee.

This Sunday is the second to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. Hence this Sunday prepares us for the anticipated return of Jesus on the last day. The Gospel reading directs us toward the final event of the Lord’s coming, the end and fulfillment of the entire salvation history.

The Parable of the Talents, proclaimed in the Gospel reading, stimulates our hope and revives our fervor in the efficient service of God during our life on earth. Jesus tells us the story of the master who distributed various amounts of talents to three servants before going away on a journey. Two servants invested their talents and doubled the amount; the other one dug a hole in the ground and buried the talent entrusted to him by the master. The master returned and demanded a reckoning. The point of the story is the reckoning that will come and the responsibility expected of us.

The story of the talents teaches us to boldly prefer taking active risk in our lives over passive complacency. The standard of God’s judgment of every person is relative to the talents given: the greater the gifts, the greater the responsibility. We are the servants in today’s Gospel parable, and the absentee master is Christ; his return is a scene of judgment. The reason why the master took away what little the worthless servant had and gives it to the most profitable servant is that it is with using God’s gifts, if we do not use it, we lose it.

The Parable reinforces our responsibility to be trustworthy, active and efficient servants in this time of waiting for the Master’s return. Grace is not something static that we, for fear of losing it, can bury in the earth. Let us make the best of the delay granted us to make it fruitful with God’s help.”

As indicated in the Gospel of today, each of us has a God-given talent. The more we receive from God, the more we should be responsible to him at the judgment hour.

God bless you all

Fr. Arul Joseph V.

Bulletin Message from Father Joseph

October 30, 2011

The evangelist Matthew gathers into one place, as we read in this Sunday’s Gospel, many of Jesus’ strong criticisms against the scribes and Pharisees. The basic criticisms are against the general strictness of their interpretation of the Law and their vanity and hypocrisy. The lamentable behavior of Pharisees and Scribes made Jesus indignant.

The Pharisees were making religion an intolerable burden by their stringent interpretation of the Law. Their legalistic, severe interpretation of the Law was like a weight to drag the people down and was becoming a menace to the people.

In the same way, the vanity and hypocrisy of these religious leaders was deplorable:

1. They widened their phylacteries. Phylacteries are little boxes containing Scripture texts which the Jews bind to their forehead and left wrist when saying their prayers. The Law had commanded to keep the Law as a sign on the hand and as a memorial between the eyes. They interpreted this literally and they widened the phylacteries in order that everyone would see them.
2. Moreover they lengthened their tassels. The tassels were to be worn on the four corners of the cloak as reminders of the Law. The Pharisees enlarged them out of ostentation.
3. They even coveted places of honor at banquets and the front seats of honor in the synagogues. While the front seats were considered the seats of honor; the back seats were unimportant.
4. They also loved greetings in marketplaces. They were fond of the salutation ‘Rabbi’, which meant ‘my master’, a teacher of the Law. Though courtesy demands that marks of respect be given proportionate to the dignity of a person, seeking greetings is nothing but sign of a self-seeking person.

This Sunday’s Gospel must be understood correctly in today’s Church structure; otherwise we will draw faulty and dangerous conclusions. There is no radical condemnation here of all titles that usually designate those who exercise a ministry. But they must bear such titles as a mark of service and not as mark of honor. The Church is like a well-structured body in which those responsible are to fulfill their roles without bragging about it.

The Gospel of today is, above all, an invitation to turn our eyes toward our one Father in heaven and toward Christ, the Divine Master, who gave us the example of becoming a servant and was exalted because he humbled himself in love and service. Hence for Christians the crucifix is one of the most sublime and popular images of Christ the Teacher.

God bless you

Fr. Arul Joseph V.

Bulletin Message from Father Joseph

October 23, 2011

This Sunday’s Gospel is a story concerning the greatest commandment in the Law. Jewish teachers during the life of Jesus were frequently asked to summarize the law in a brief statement. For example, Hillel, who was was a famous Jewish religious leader and one of the most important figures in Jewish history, summarized the law stating, “What you hate for yourself do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole law; the rest is commentary. Go and learn.”

Jesus’ summary of the law consists of two commandments: love of God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and love of neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). These two commandments are the threads on which the entire law hangs. With this answer, Jesus proves his fidelity to the Jewish tradition and his commitment to a spirituality that emphasizes the essentials.

Fr. Harold Buetow, who was a recognized professor in the Catholic University and has written a series of reflection on Sunday readings, explains that the novelty in Jesus’ answer doesn’t consist in quoting these two texts, both found in Jewish Scriptures; rather Jesus’ novelty consists in putting both texts side by side with equal weight, rescinding all the heavy and light regulations that suffused the Jewish tradition. This is new, and has no parallel in all Jewish literature.

The first commandment of Jesus is, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. To love with all one’s heart, with all one’s soul, and with all one’s mind has nothing to do with discharging a series of predetermined obligations; rather it denotes keeping our love for God in our constant attention. The second is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. The second commandment, which is like the first, must be understood and practiced in the same perspective as the first. Doing what is contrary to our neighbor’s good, in any situation, never corresponds to God’s will and to the love we owe to God. It is also a revelation concerning Father, Son and the Holy Spirit: No one has seen The Father in heaven; the Son became our brother through his incarnation and we find him in our neighbor; the Spirit dwells in our hearts as the divine love. The invisible trinity can be found by recognizing and serving the Son in the brothers and sisters, with whom he identifies.

A Christian can be considered obedient to God, only if he obeys first and foremost, the greatest commandment of God. This is the foundation of holiness, the first thing that makes one pleasing to God. On the other hand, the unwillingness of a person to live up to this great commandment equally becomes the basis for his condemnation. The love of neighbor is a sure sign of the love of God. It is for these two virtues that we must strive.  Let us ask God the grace of perfect love for him and for our neighbor, a love that could be sacrificial.

God bless you

Fr. Arul Joseph V.