One can not kill Truth/Good Things

*Gospel Thoughts*

*17th Week : Saturday*

*GOSPEL Matthew - 14 : 1 - 12*

*One can't kill Good Things/Truth*

*1) Herod Killed John but not the Truth*

As we read the narration in the gospel, Herod succeeded in killing the John the Baptist, whom he had imprisoned for questioning his immoral life 

So it is very clear that Herod had killed John the Baptist and the disciples of John came and took his body and they buried it. 

*2)Herod sees John the Baptist in Jesus*

When Herod heard about Jesus' reputation, His mighty power to work miracles, His teachings and His extraordinary powers, Herod thought that it was John the Baptist, who has come back to life and along with it the extraordinary powers are also active in him. 

In fact Herod knew the extraordinary powers of John the Baptist, His integrity and moral life. So Herod believed that John was an extraordinary man with special mighty powers 

Now John also sure that he had murdered such a powerful man and he does not exist any more. 

But when He sees Jesus and His mighty powers He identifies Jesus with John the Baptist 

*What does this mean?*

- Herod could not succeed in killing the mighty power of John

-Herod could not succeed in controlling the divine power 

Herod could not succeed in silencing the Truth 

Herod could not succeed to put an end to justice and truth 

Herod could not control the voice which was crying in the wilderness

Finally, with the Murder of John the Baptist, Herod could not control the plan of God, spread of the Kingdom of God and Voice of the conscience

*3)Mighty powers will always be at Work*

Mighty powers are identified with God's power 

To each human being, God has given mighty powers. Some of the mighty powers may be the following

Power to Think - Think Good and Think for others

Power to see, hear, understand, experience,  feel, and to resist the temptations of devil.

Power to walk, work, and to face any types of challenges. 

These are some of the mighty powers in our lives, which are mighty gifts of the Lord to us. Are we using these God given mighty powers for the spread of the Kingdom of God? 

*4) The mystery of Death, resurrection and the work of the mighty powers*

This particular phrase refers to John' Death, resurrection and mighty works, which Herod sees in Jesus. 

Now there is a beautiful logic is found in Death, resurrection and works of the mighty powers. 

Here something dies, something becomes alive and mighty powers become active to perform something extraordinary. 

The above logic can be applied to our life in an beautiful way. 

In our life death of following things give rise to the following things 

Death of pride gives rise to the humility

Death of Ego gives to rise to simplicity

Death of anger gives rise to peace

Death of selfishness gives rise to generosity

Death of arrogance gives rise to  reconciliation

Death of greed gives rise to sharing 

Death of revenge gives rise to reconciliation

Death of lies gives rise to sincerity and truth

Death of injustice gives rise to Justice 

All the above mentioned things humility, simplicity, peace, justice, reconciliation, sharing, generosity are mighty powers which work wonders in our lives. 

So death of something give rise to something, which work in us like a mighty powers to perform great miracles. 

Am I ready to revive my God given  mighty powers by putting and end to those things which are hurdles to mighty powers????

*God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear onces*

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

My Life is a Native place of Jesus – What is my response

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

17^th Week – Thursday

Gospel – Matthew 13: 54-58

My Life is a Native place of Jesus – What is my response?

 *Only admiring someone is useless*

 *Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?*

 *1) The positive side of the above expression*

• This expression shows that some one is admiring the extraordinary power of some one 
• This expression also draws the attention of the another because of the greatness of the person 
• This expression also shows that the person is great and has a special charism 
• This expression also creates a kind of suspense and arouses a kind of curiosity to know the person and his capacity 

 *2) The negative side of this expression*

• In a negative level to belittle a person this expression can be used 
• The express the feeling that the person is not fit for such wisdom and power 
• It can also be used as a expression to show that, even if the person wise and powerful, we are not going to accept him and his ability
• It can also be used as an expression to bring down the name and dignity of the person and to show that to have such a wisdom and power by such person is nothing. Its an ordinary thing

 *3) Native People had a negative outlook towards Jesus*

• This is very clear from their expressions 
• Is he not the carpenter’s son? Not even the name of the father is mentioned. They simply said "Carpenters" to humiliate him
• Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? This is to show that he comes from an ordinary Family
• Are not his sisters all with us? To express that they do not have an extraordinary place and position. 
• So the above expressions show that they had very negative outlook towards Jesus

 *4) Is he not the carpenter’s son?*

•  Not even mention of His Fathers name 
•  To express the highest amount of Humiliation to Jesus
•  To express that Jesus is nothing and he is an ordinary carpenter's son 

*5) Mere admiration of the person is useless*

• Among the crowd there must have been some people who admired Jesus for His wisdom and extraordinary power. But their admiration was only at the peripheral level. Thier admiration had no depth 
• The very fact that Jesus could not perform any miracles there because of their lack of faith, clearly shows that, their admiration had no depth at all. 
• When the admiration has no depth it does not touch us in any way and it does not change us in any way. 

*6) My life is the native place of Jesus. What is my response?*

• My life and my whole being is the native place of Jesus. If so what is my response? 
• Will I say "Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?" in a negative way or in a positive way 
• Will I say that he is a carpenters Son, where neither Jesus' or Josephs name is found 
• Will I see Jesus only at the level of family people who are ordinary and simple people. From there will I conclude that he is an ordinary man 
• Will Jesus find difficult to perform any miracles in my native place/my life because of my lack of faith and negative thoughts 
• Will I only admire and forget everything? 
• What will happen to Jesus in my life 

 *7) Miracles happen in our life the way we accept Jesus*

• Accept Jesus as Martha accepted
• Accept Jesus as Zacchaues  accepted 
• Accept Jesus as the lepers accepted Jesus 
• All of them saw a great miracle in thier life
• Will I be able to see miracle in my life?

 God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones.

Fr Maxim D’Souza

Jeppu Seminary

Mangalore

We need to sit down to separate what is good and what is Evil :The unexamined life is not worth living

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

17^th Week – Thursday

Gospel – Matthew 13: 47-53

 

*We need to sit down to separate what is good and what is Evil*

*The unexamined life is not worth living*

*1) Unhealthy speed of Growth*

Today we are having unimaginable speed of growth of the various things 

From 2G to 3G, 4G 5G and in near future we may have 6G 7G 8G

From Duel core processor, we have moved to I3, I5, I7,

From 1GB Ram to 2GB 4GB 6GB 8GB 16GB

From 80GB, to 12OGB 500GB 1000GB 

From single storey building to 100 storey building

From Thousands to lakhs, cores and millions 

All these above few examples show us the speed of growth in various fields. All these changes are happening in the span of 25 or 35 years 

*2) Unhealthy speed of some aspects of Human life*

The above unhealthy speed of growth has caused some unhealthy  growth in Human life. Some of the examples 

Human being have become more selfish 

Unhealthy competition to amass weath and money 

Big financial scams and scandals are on rise 

Degraded moral life and value system 

The lesser value of Human life 

Self centered and indifferent way of life 

Materialist outlook of life 

Increased greed for wealth, power, authority, money and possessions

All these are on rise and they are increasing in an unhealthy speed 

*3) Unhealthy Speed of growth and Busy way of life*

The above speed of growth in the material world and also in human life has made us our life 'Busy' in every aspect of our life 

Today we are so busy running from piller to the post, we have no time to sit and relax 

We have 101 things to do, as a result we too are running all the time and we get exhausted with in no time 

When life becomes so busy we have no time to reflect about what is going on in our life. 

*The unexamined life is not worth Living* - Socrates

*4)The need of Sitting down*

In order to evaluate our life, we need to reflect. To reflect we need to sit in solitude. To do this we need to slow down, we need to decrease our speed 

The Gospel of the day clearly tells us the need of sitting down for segregating the good from the evil 

The fishermen sat down and segregated good from the bad ones 

Unless they sit they could not separate the good from the bad ones. So the need of sitting down is very much necessary to separate good from the evil one. 

*5) Our life is like a fish net*

The fish net collects everything. It does not leave anything. 

Our life has all the qualities of a net. It is able to collect all good things and bad as well

In other words we can say our life is influenced by good as well as bad. So in order to find out what is good and what is evil we need to sit and separate good from evil 

*6) Good is collected in buckets and bad is thrown out*

This is also very important. Unless we know something is bad we will not throw it out. 

At times because of our busy schedule we fail to evaluate what is good and what is evil. In the bargain we throw good out and retain bad with us 

In such a situation, we ourselves are the losers and finally only the bad remains with us 

*7)Various ways to segregate good from the Evil*

• Personal prayer life 
• Examination of the -conscience
• Retreats and meditation on the word of God
• Spending time in silence 
• Celebration of the sacraments 
• Regularly receiving the sacrament of reconciliation
• Praying Rosary 
• Evaluating ones own life, regularly
• Listening others and taking their suggestions
• Accepting the faults when others correct us 
• Asking for an open evaluation from others 
• Strong spiritual life 

*8) Unhealthy speed always causes accident and destruction*

So the need of slowing down and going at the healthy speed is necessary. 

Once the things are set right we can increase speed for some time. Then once again we need to slow down to check the things and to put them in order 

*9) COVID19 is a time to sit down and separate the good from evil*

Reflect about it and use this time to evaluate your own life

 God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones.

Fr Maxim D’Souza

Jeppu Seminary

Mangalore

Deeper Meaning of Welcome : Martha Welcomed Him into her House.

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

17^th Week – Wednesday

Gospel – Luke 10: 38-42

Saint of the Day: St Martha

 *Martha Welcomed Him into her House: Deeper Meaning of Welcome*

*1) Martha's Welcome to Jesus*

The Gospel says that when Martha heard about Jesus' Arrival to their place, she hurriedly goes and welcomes Jesus into her house 

When some one is given grand welcome they feel at home and they become one with us 

When some one is welcomed, they feel a kind of affinity towards the place and the person which facilities the deeper relationship

To have a genuine relationship a warm welcome is necessary

A warm welcome makes a lot of difference in the guest and also changes the entire situation

Wherever there is welcome, there we find joy, cheerfulness, happiness and warmth 

*2) Deeper meaning of Welcome*

 At the peripheral level welcome appears a ordinary gesture of our culture. But it has a deeper meaning 

• When some one is welcomed means, 
• We are ready to receive this person 
• We are ready to listen to the person 
• We are ready to spend time with the person 
• We are ready to help the person 
• We are ready to understand the person 
• We are share the joy and sorrow of the person 
• We are ready to receive the person into our life 
• We are ready to build friend with the person 
• We are ready to take care of the person 

This is the real and deeper meaning of the *Welcome*

*3) Speciality of Martha's Welcome to Jesus*

When Martha welcomed Jesus, she not only Welcome the physical person of Jesus into her house, but, along with physical perdon if Jesus she also  welcome the following 

• The spiritual person of Jesus 
• The teachings of Jesus 
• The values of Jesus 
• The advice of Jesus 
• The mercy of Jesus 
• The forgiveness of Jesus 
• Kingdom of God
• The new way of life
• The followers of Jesus 
• The Love of Jesus 
• The warmth of Jesus
• The friendship, humility, care, concern, miraculous power, divinity, humanity and other values of Jesus 
• She also accepted Jesus as the Son of God through her Welcome 

*4)Martha Welcomed Jesus into Her House : Deeper meaning of the House*

House is a physical structure built for living. Martha's welcome to the house not only means into the physical building. Beyond this physical building we can also see her welcome. By welcoming Jesus into her house she also welcomes Jesus into 

• Her heart 
• Her life 
• Her mind
• Into her emotions
• Into her vision 
• Into her difficulties and challenges
• Into her failures 
• Into her dark side of life 
• Into her crisis 
• Into her happy and sad moments
• Into her every aspect of life 

This is how we can understand the deeper meaning of the welcome into her House 

*5) What sort of Welcome I give to my Lord*

Is it the welcome only of the lips or 

Is it the welcome of the heart and of the entire being

When I give the welcome of the heart and of entire being 

• I welcome Jesus into my life whole heatedly
• I welcome His teaching 
• I welcome His values 
• I Welcome His humility
• I welcome His challenges
• I Welcome His Cross 
• I welcome His to call for conversion
• I open myself to His mercy, forgiveness, love, care, concern, goodness and his call to follow Him very closely

*6) Will I be able to give a grand welcome to my Lord, like that of Martha*

It is a great challenge which we have to face everyday to make it more meaningful to our life 

Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Matthew 10:40

God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones.

Fr Maxim D’Souza

Jeppu Seminary

Mangalore

modern Forms of Weeds in my Life

*Gospel Thoughts*

*17th Week : Tuesday*

*GOSPEL Mt 13:36-43*

*'Modern forms of Weeds"*

*1) Weeds were sown on Good soil*

Weeds represent the bad seeds. These were sown  by the devil. 

But unfortunately we see that the devil chooses the good and futile place to sow these weeds

This is how the Satan or the devil works. It chooses the best and fertile place to grow its wickedness 

*2) My life as the field for Sowing*

Our life can be compared to a field. It is a good and fertile place 

Since we have been created in the image and likeness of God, our life is holy and good . In today's parable language we can say our life is a fertile land to grow the good crop

Since the devil looks for a fertile land to sow the weeds, it is sure that, the devil chooses this particular field, which is nothing but our own life.

So we need to be very careful with regard to the weeds, which are sown  by the devil 

*3) Modern forms of Weeds*

Today the devil has taken various things to sow the weeds in our lives. These may be some of the examples 

The weeds of jealousy 

The weeds of gossip

The weeds of anger

The weeds of revenge

The weeds of pride

The weeds of lies 

The weeds of greed

The weeds of pleasure

The weeds of enmity

The weeds of self-Righteousness 

*4) The most terrible and dangerous forms of modern weeds* 

Media: which some how sows the seeds of weeds in the minds and hearts of people 

Social networking systems like face book, Whatsaap, Instagram, twitter, and various other forms, which at times works as weeds in the lives of young as well as other people 

*5) COVID19*

COVID19 was responsible to  sow the various weeds like

Fear, anxiety, tension, wrong information, confusion, lockdown, shutting down the religious centers, schools and colleges and other pilgrim places. 

It has created the weeds of lack of faith in God, negligence of spiritual activities and  moral values 

*6) Weeds in my Life*

What are the weeds which have been sown  by the devil in my life 

All of us have some seeds of weeds in our life. But the question is " Am I trying to uproot these seeds of weeds" 

Am I allowing these weeds to grow?

Am I giving some more fertilizers to make the roots of the weeds strong? 

 Am I indifferent to these seeds of weeds? 

Are they affecting me in any way? If yes, what will I do with this seeds of weeds? 

*God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear onces*

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

The Power/Mystery of the Mustard Seed and Faith

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

17^th Week – Monday

Gospel – Matthew 13: 32-35

The Power/Mystery of the Mustard Seed and Faith

1) Smallest of all Seeds – Yet it is necessary

In the Parable of the Mustard seed Jesus says, "It is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree". This is the reality of the mustard seed.

Since the seed is small, no one can say that the seed is not necessary. Even though it is very small, without the seed no great tree will appear

Here we need to pay attention to the size of the mustard seed and the size of the tree. Both seems to be having extremes – “smallest of all the seeds” and “when it has grown it is the greatest of Shrubs and becomes a tree”

These particular extremes convey e a powerful message to our life.

2) Mustard Seed and the Kingdom of God

Like mustard seed the kingdom starts and it grows like a mustard tree

In order to realize this, seed of the Kingdom of God is necessary in our life. If there is no seed of the Kingdom of God it will never realize in our life

In the initial stage no one may observe the small mustard seed. It may appear to be a simple matter. But when it grows it becomes very powerful tree. The same logic can be applied to the Kingdom of God. In the initial stage the existence of the Kingdom of God may not be felt very much. But as it grows it becomes very powerful.

3) Mustard seed and the Faith

When the disciples were unable to cast the demon out from a boy Jesus makes a reference to the Mustard Seed

If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you will say to this mountain “Move from here to there and it will move” Matthew 17:20

When the disciples said to Jesus, "Lord increase our faith" Jesus tells them to “If you had faith the size of a Mustard seed you could say to this Mulberry tree “Be uprooted and planted in the sea and it would obey you”  Luke 17: 6.

 It appears that Jesus found difficult even to find in them the at least faith like that of mustard seed.

4) Unless there is something it cannot increase

If there is nothing there is no question of increase

Even if ones faith is like that of Mustard seed, it has the capacity to grow and to become like a big tree. Therefore it is necessary to have at least little faith like that of mustard seed.

Unless there is some faith, the question of increment does not arise. The presence of something is the basic condition for the increase of something.

Unless we have little faith, the prayer "Lord increase our faith" becomes useless. Such a baseless prayer is not answered.

5) Faith, Mustard seed, and the mulberry tree/ Mountain

What is the size of the mustard seed? What is the size of the mulberry tree? What is the size of the Mountain? All these are connected with each other

Faith like that of a Mustard seed has a terrible power

If the faith like that of a mustard seed can move the mulberry tree, which is very huge, we can imagine the power of faith. If such is the case when the faith grows to the level of tree from the seed, we can imagine the power of faith. In other words “in and through faith” nothing is impossible.

This logic is also applicable to the other areas of life. When we ask Lord to work wonders in our lives, unless we do some little or base work, nothing will work in our life.

God builds on what good work we begin in our lives.

Don't expect God to do everything. It is our responsibility to begin somewhere little work and ask God to guide us and to take control of it. Then everything will increase and everything will grow.

God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones.

Fr Maxim D’Souza

Jeppu Seminary

Mangalore

What will I Ask from the Lord

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

17^th Sunday of the Year

Gospel – Matthew 13:44-52

 What will I Ask from the Lord

 “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” 1 Kgs 3:5,

 1) What do I ask from the Lord during my prayer

 Every day we pray. During prayer one of the things that we do is "Asking lots of favour from the Lord 

 If we reflect about our prayers and the content of our asking from the Lord, most of the time, may be  the following things are seen. For example 

 These days most of us ask for good health from the Lord 

 Some of us ask a bright and better future to ur children

 Some of us, protection from all harm and snares of the devil 

 Some of us may ask a peaceful living, to have a good family 

 Some of us may ask the Lord, other people to help us 

 Some people may  ask for power, authority, position, wealth, riches, beauty, status, name and fame 

 These are some of the examples of our Asking from the Lord 

 2) What Solomon asked from the Lord?

 Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.

 He asked for a heart which can know what is good and what is evil 

 In simple words he asked for a wisdom from the Lord 

 In this context The Lord, Since Solomon had not asked for Long life, riches and life of the enemies, God was pleased with his request and He was given a Heart/ mind which was able to distinguish good and evil at any time 

 About Solomon the Lord says "there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.”

 3) Why Wisdom is necessary

 In today’s context it is very difficult to distinguish what is good and what is evil 

 The evil is projected as good in a most creative way and the Good is not highlighted 

 When the evil is hailed as good, only a real wisdom will make us to know what is good. Or else we will be fooled in every way and the enemy will take the control of our life 

 4) Wisdom for Hidden treasure

 Jesus speaks about the hidden treasure and He compares it to the Kingdom of God 

 To find out this hidden treasure, to know the value of the hidden treasure, and to posses this hidden treasure is possible only through the wisdom. Without wisdom we can do nothing 

 Jesus also speaks about the priceless pearls. To know the value of these pearls and to understand its need in our life is possible only through the wisdom 

 5) What/Where is my real Treasure

For a Christian the real hidden treasure is fond in Jesus, in Eucharist, in Blessed Sacrament, and in various sacraments of the Church 

 In these hidden treasures we have priceless pearls like, Forgiveness, Love, mercy, Sharing, caring, reaching out one in need, healing, humility, sacrifice and other kingdom values

 Only a person with Wisdom will be able to understand the importance of The Hidden treasures and the need of these pearls in our lives  

6) Where is my Treasure?

Where do I look for the Hidden treasure? Is it in the worldly things or in Spiritual things 

Do I wish for Wisdom or only the Worldly Knowledge? 

Science is organized knowledge, wisdom is organized life. Immanuel Kant

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom Proverbs 9:10  

God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones.

Fr Maxim D’Souza

Jeppu Seminary

Mangalore

Drinking of the Chalice" how to understand this?

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

16^th Week – Saturday

Gospel – Matthew 20: 20-28

 

Drinking of the Chalice" how to understand this?

 Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?

 1) The context of the Chalice

 Jesus uses this word when He speaks about His passion, death and Resurrection

 My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Luke 22:39

 Here Chalice/Cup is referred in the context of Jesus' suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. Matthew 26:27

In the Last supper Jesus is mentioning of the drinking of the cup in the context of His passion and death on the Cross

 So Chalice is refers to the following

•  Sufferings of Jesus 
• Death of Jesus 
• Rejection of jesus
• Struggles of Jesus
• Cross of Jesus 
• Way of the Cross 
• Persecution for the sake of the Word 
• Crucifixion of Jesus 

 All the has a direct connection to the concept of Chalice 

 2) Drinking of the Chalice is very Important

 Now the act of *Drinking* is very important

 Jesus did not say take the chalice or cup and see or keep it with you

 Jesus clearly says that we need to drink the Chalice 

 "Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” Matthew 20:22

 3) Deeper meaning of the *Drinking of the Chalice*

 

Now the *Drinking the Chalice* has a very deep meaning 

 When we drink something it goes into our system or body 

 It becomes one with the body 

 It creates some kind of energy in our body 

 It becomes one with the body and we are directly influenced by the same 

 When Jesus says that the Chalice which I am going to drink, Jesus means that those above mentioned challenges have become one with the person 

 They are the integral part of His mission 

 Without drinking this cup, the mission becomes incomplete

 With going through these challenges or without becoming these challenges as the part of His life, mission will be incomplete

 4) So, am I ready to drink this Chalice

 It means am I ready to become one with the Cross. Am I ready to accept the cross and its challenges

 Am I ready to digest the challenges of the Kingdom of God 

 We need to drink the suffering, Cross, Humiliations, Rejection, Forgiveness, love of the enemies 

 Drinking from the chalice has a direct effect on the body. Like wise drinking the challenges of Jesus and the Cross should have direct effect on our life.

 Drinking from the chalice, directly goes inside the body and it works on the body

 Like wise drinking the values, challenges, should go inside our mind, heart and to the Soul. Only then it will create a real conversion of Life 

 5) We drink Vine/Blood from the Chalice

 Chalice is not for drinking soft drinks 

 It is not meant for drinking cold or hot water or any other drink.

 We use chalice During mass to drink the consecrated vine which we believe is the blood of Jesus 

 The colour of the vine red and the colour of the blood also red

 So drinking of the blood of Jesus from the chalice means, drinking of the Cross, suffering and persecution for the sake of the Kingdom 

 6) Drinking from the Chalice is not Easy

 To drink blood is not all easy 

 It is difficult and at times challenging

 Likewise drinking the Chalice of Christ is not all easy. It is difficult and challenging. 

 So we need to understand the meaning of Chalice from this context 

 7) Jesus' straight and direct Question

 Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”

 Jesus is drinking the Chalice. No doubt about it 

The question is, whether I am ready to drink the chalice 

 There is no force from Jesus. But only a simple request. 'Can u drink" 

 Jesus is asking what Jesus Himself is doing. He is not asking what he has not gone through. So Jesus have the first hand experience of drinking the Chalice 

 *Now the question is Am I ready to drink the Chalice*

 God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones.

 

Fr Maxim D’Souza

Jeppu Seminary

Mangalore