Where did I get all this?

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 14th Week -  Sunday*

*GOSPEL - Mk 6:1-6*

*First Reading - Ez 2:2-5*

*SECOND READING - 2 Cor 12:7-10*

*Where did I get all this?*

*They said, “Where did this man get all this?*

*1) The question of the Native People*

Where did this man get all this? 

The crowd asked this question by seeing some extraordinary things in Jesus 

Since Jesus was working great miracles and doing lots of good work, people spontaneously asked this above question

*2) The question can be seen in two angles*

*Positive Angle*

This angle will help the person to appreciate the greatness and goodness of the person 

The positive approach will help the person to find out the true answers to the above question

The positive approach will help the person to get some inspiration from the other 

*Negative Angle*

When a person takes a negative approach, he/she will only find faults with the person, and will try to belittle the person 

He/she will not accept the reality in its true sense but will take it in a wrong or crooked way 

negative approach neither will help the person nor the other

*3)  Native people had negative approach*

 

It is very clear from their answers that their approach was very negative 

Their response like 

What kind of wisdom has been given him?

What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!

Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?

And are not his sisters here with us?”

*And they took offense at him.*

The last sentence makes it very clear their intention was only to find fault with Jesus and to malign His name 

*4) What Is the Final answer to this Question*

Final answer to this question is simple and straight 

He got all these from His heavenly Father 

Abba Father blessed Him with special power and He was able to perform all the miracles. 

So God is the Source of everything

*5) My life and this Question*

I need to look at my own life and need to ask this question *Where did this man get all this?*

*This man* refers to my own life, my own inner self, my own personality, my own talents, skills, abilities, intelligence, IQ power, bodily strength, and so on 

When I reflect this question with this approach I may have two approaches once again 

*Self centred approach* : This approach will make a person proud and he/she will say I am responsible, my hard work is responsible, my intelligence, my skills and he/she will say *I* am at the centre of everything. 

*God centred approach*: The person who has God centred approach will see that everything comes from God 

God is the Source of everything

It is by God's grace I am able to do it 

It is God who works in and through me 

So this will be the approach

*6) What is my approach?* 

First of all find out what extraordinary Things are found in your life?

Consider everything in life is extraordinary, nothing is ordinary

What is my approach to the extraordinary things in my life? 

*God centred approach?*

*Self centred approach?*

*Think about it*

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

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

The Importance of the Crucified Christ

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 13th Week -  Saturday*

*Feast of St Thomas the Apostle*

*GOSPEL - Jn 20:24–29*

*First Reading - Eph 2:19–22*

*The Importance of the Crucified Christ*

*1) Thomas was referring to Crucified Christ, even after His resurrection*

When the other disciples said that they have seen the Risen Lord, the immediate response of Thomas was about the image of Crucified Christ

He was referring to the marks of the nails and the wound in His side 

Both these events have a direct connections to the crucifixion of Jesus 

Marks of the nail and pierced Side happened during the Crucifixion 

*2) Jesus also Showed the Marks of His crucifixion*

When Jesus appeared, finally the Risen Christ shows the facts about His crucifixion

The Risen Christ was with the marks of the Crucifixion.  Marks of the nails and pierced side both these were very visible to others 

This shows how important the event of crucifixion and the image of crucified Christ

*3) Cross and Crucifix is at the centre of Christianity*

There is no Christians with out Cross and there is no Cross without Christians 

The Cross has become the the powerful symbol of Christianity. Where ever there is Cross, it speaks loudly about Jesus

So Crucified Jesus is a powerful symbol in Human History

*4) Believing means, Following Crucified Christ*

This is very clearly seen in the life of St Thomas

For Him the Crucified Christ was everything, that is why for him faith primarily depends in this image 

Even by seeing the marks of crucified Christ, faith of St Thomas was deepened 

Even today, crucified Christ is very powerful to deepen our faith 

*5) What is my Reaction/Response when I see the Crucified Christ*

Am I fascinated with this image? 

How often I look at this image and reflect about it? 

Does it attracts me or am I frightened to reflect about the truths behind crucifixion? 

Like Thomas we are able to see the Risen Lord in Crucified Jesus - what is my response? 

Let this image always inspire us to bear witness to Christ, like Thomas.

*Think about it*

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

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

The seeing of Jesus Vs The seeing of Pharisees

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 13th Week -   Friday*

*GOSPEL - Mt 9:9-13*

*First Reading - Gen 23:1-4, 19; 21:1-8;, 62-67*

*The seeing of Jesus Vs The seeing of Pharisees*

*1) Jesus saw the tax collector Matthew*

The Gospel makes it clear that *As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.*

Now the question is what happened after Jesus saw the Tax collector Matthew

First of all it was not and ordinary Gaze, rather it was a divine gaze 

Jesus not only saw a Matthew who was at the tax booth, only collecting the taxes, but Jesus saw much more than these external things 

Jesus  saw in Matthew, a committed disciple

Jesus saw in Matthew a person who will show his willingness to follow Jesus 

Jesus  saw in Matthew, a person who will be able to give up everything, for the sake of following Him 

Jesus  saw in Matthew, a hidden intellectual person who will later write the Gospel narrating the events of His life 

Jesus also saw a generous person in Matthew

Jesus also saw in Matthew a person who will follow Him immediately 

That is why the gaze of Jesus was something special and powerful, which was directed towards a person to change his life for the better 

*2) The seeing of the Pharisees*

What ultimately the Pharisees saw? 

They saw Jesus, who called to be the Messiah, mingling with sinners, tax collectors, and those with whom he was not suppose to mingle 

They saw that there is something wrong in Jesus 

They saw something unusual, which they could not digest 

They saw that their tradition and customs were challenged by Jesus by doing all those things 

Finally their seeing was directed only in finding fault with Jesus, belittling Jesus, branding and insulting Matthew and his company for doing the work of tax collection

Such seeing neither helped them to grow nor allowed the other person to do their work 

Their seeing was so miserable that showed some kind of jealousy, hatred, unhappiness for doing something Good 

*3)  How do I see things in Life? 

What is my gaze at people? 

*Is it a pharisaic gaze*, which is qualified by, jealousy, seeing always negative in everything, hatred, destructive criticism, gossip, unhappiness for something good happening in some one else life?

*Is it a Jesus gaze?* which always sees great and wonderful things in another's life?

Which sees the hidden capabilities, skills and talents in others?

Which sees some unseen beautiful  aspects of human life? 

*So what is my gaze? Divine or Devilish?*

*Think about it*

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

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

To go to our Home town we need a boat, to Cross to the other Side

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 13th Week -  Thursday*

*GOSPEL - Mt 9:1-8*

*First Reading - Gn 22:1b-19*

*To go to our Home town we need a boat, to Cross to the other Side*

*1)  Jesus uses the boat to cross and come to His own town*

The Gospel of the day makes it very clear that, Jesus was on the other side the river

He uses a boat to cross to the river and comes to His own town 

We need to pay attention to the event of crossing, using of the Boat and coming to His Own town 

This event has very powerful message in our lives, and a deep spiritual insight.

*2) Our Home town - Earth or Heaven?*

St Paul says *"our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ"*

This earth and earthly dwelling is only a temporary place to dwell 

Only for few years we live here. But we don't have the permanent citizenship here on this earth

Since we belong to heaven and our permanent citizenship belongs there, heaven is our Home Town 

So to this Home town we are suppose to reach, that is the real mission and goal of our life.

*3) We need to Cross from this side to the other*

As we know our life is a pilgrimage from this world to the heavenly abode 

This world is like a great river, and we are on this side of the river, need to cross to the other side 

So our life is meant for crossing from this side to the other side 

*4) We need a boat to cross the river*

As Jesus used boat to cross the other side of the river, we to need some boat to cross from this world to the other side, that is the heaven 

As Christians, Jesus has given us many boats to get into and to cross the other side 

Some of the following things can be considered as boats 

The boat of Christian Faith 

The boat of Eucharist

The boat of confession

The boat of the Word of God

The boat of Sacraments

The boat of commandments

The boat of forgiveness

The boat of sacrifice

The boat of love 

The boat of sincerity

The boat of generosity

The boat of humility

The boat of Truth and Justice 

Apart from these there are also other powerful boats which are to be used by Christians

One who gets into these boats, definitely will be able to cross to the other side, by facing all the challenges and will reach to his/her own home town without any problem

*5) What about my life?*

Is my boat of my life sailing in the right direction?

Have I started my journey or yet to start, to my destiny? 

What are the boats which I am using right Now in order to cross to the other side, so as to reach my home town? 

Do I need to change my boats? If so how can I do it? 

*Check your journey, direction, and also the boat*

*Think about it*

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

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

The tragedy of asking some one to leave because of His/Her good deeds

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 13th Week -  Wednesday*

*GOSPEL - Mt 8:28-34*

*First Reading - Gn 21:5, 8-20a*

*The tragedy of asking some one to leave because of His/Her good deeds*

*They begged him to leave their district*

*1) Jesus was asked to leave the District - Why?*

The last sentence of the Gospel, clearly states that the people of the district came to Jesus and asked him to Leave 

There are two things happened

First of all : Herd of swine died, after the demons entered into them 

Secondly : Those two person who were possessed with the demons were set free and now they were normal people 

So Jesus did something good. He set free those who were possessed with the demons 

For doing such a great deed people came and asked Him to leave the district 

*2) People were immersed in their pig business and not the wellbeing of the person*

People saw only profit and their gain 

Here some people lost their business in terms of those pigs. So they saw only their selfish motives and not the wellbeing of the other 

Once one is immered in money and only making profit, he/she does not care about the others or their wellbeing. Only money rules and that becomes everything 

*3) Wellbeing of the others always demands some sacrifice*

One can't think of the  wellbeing of the other without any sacrifice 

Even in the Gospel it is very clear; the casting out demons from those two persons, resulted the death of some pigs. 

Unless people are ready to make that sacrifice, one can't expect the wellbeing of the other 

So *sacrifice* is at the centre of the wellbeing of the other 

*4) The tragedy continues even Today*

When we our society today, this is one of the most tragedies of our time 

Those people who try to do some good work, who try to put some order or bring some discipline, either they are targeted or they are silenced or they are transferred

There are few hands behind these such kinds of nasty things, because their selfish interests are challenged, and their immoral and illegal activities are challenged 

So the people who are doing good, are asked to leave the place 

*5) As Christians, we are witnnesing this fact today, more than ever*

Christianity is known for its good deeds, in terms of service to the marginalized people, health care, and educating the most deprived of the society

For doing such a good and noble tasks, Christian missionaries are targeted, beaten up, asked to vacate the place or to stop the good work 

This is happening all over the world today and in our own surroundings 

So what has happened to Jesus, the same things are happening to their followers too 

*6) What happens when the good work is stopped?*

Stopping the good work is the biggest tragedy of the world today 

As a result, many of the people who could benefit are deprived of the benefits 

As a result the society still remains in the pig business, which ultimately sickens every one 

Even those people who are interested only in selfish motives and try to stop the good work, will not benefit in any way 

Ultimately every one will lose the benefit of the good work, which could have enjoyed by every one 

*7) What about me?*

How do I see the good works by some one else? Do I consider them as threat for my selfish motives? 

Am I ready to sacrifice something for the sake of the wellbeing of the other? 

Have I become responsible any time for stopping the good work in my surroundings? 

How do I cooperate with those who try to do something good in our society? 

*Think about it*

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

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

What are the Keys of the Kingdom Heaven, Which are given to me?🗝️

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 13th Week -  Tuesday*

*🌹Solemnity of St Peter & St Paul, Apostles 🌹*

*GOSPEL - Mt 16:13-19*

*First Reading - Acts 12:1-11*

*SECOND READING - 2 Tm 4:6-8, 17-18*

*🗝️What are the Keys of the Kingdom Heaven, Which are given to me?🗝️*

*1)🔑 Importance of the Key🔑*

We know what is key and its importance.

Key is first of all necessary to open something which is closed and to enter into something

Keys will help us to keep the things in a secure place, so that the thieves or robbers may not be able to steal 

Keys will keep the things in a hidden place and it always creates a suspense in the things which are inside 

One who has the key is considered to a king/superior/leader/head/in charge /Responsible person 

One who does not have a key is powerless, inferior, slave, etc 

*2) Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven*🗝️🔑

Jesus is not speaking of the earthly keys. He is speaking about the heavenly keys. 

When we reflect about the Life of Jesus, we come to know the different aspects of the heavenly keys, which could be understood in the following way 

The Key of Prayer

The key of  Christian Faith 

The key of  Forgiveness

The Key of Courage 

The Key of Love 

The Key of Sacrifice

The Key of Healing 

The Key of generosity

The Key of Humility

The key of the power of prayer

The key of working miracles

The Key of Holiness 

The Key of the Holy Spirit

The Key of speaking in Tongues 

The key of bearing witness to Christ 

The Key of Martyrdom

*3) St Peter and St Paul and the keys of the Kingdom*🔑🗝️

As we celebrate the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, it is very important to know what are the keys, which were given to these Apostles 

The Key of proclaiming Christ 

The key of Courage 

The key of giving witness to Christ

The key of working miracles

The key of speaking in Tongues 

The key of martyrdom

The key of the main pillars of the Church 

The key of burning lamps 

The key of making disciples to Jesus 

The key of facing any type of persecution

The key of tremendous Knowledge

The key of humility

The key of strong determination

The key of truth 

The key of sainthood 

*4) 🗝️The need of the Key of kingdom of heaven🗝️🔑*

As we know that even in our daily life, unless we have a key, we can't open something and take the things out or we can't enter into our houses 

Likewise unless we have above spiritual keys we can't open the doors of heaven in order to enter 

So God has already given varieties of keys as we live here, to practice how to use these keys to open the doors of the kingdom of Heaven 

We need to posses these keys and when our times comes we need to use these keys to enter into heaven 

*5) What are the Keys, I have in my life?*🔑🔑

When we reflect about the various spiritual keys from the life of Jesus, it is very important to know which are the keys I possess

The more the keys I posses richer I become. The less keys I have, lesser the chances of getting into heaven 

So reflect about your own life to find out which are the keys you have in your Life? 

*6) Have I lost any of the keys of the Kingdom?*🔑🔑

What about the keys of forgiveness, peace, love, humility, generosity, faithfulness, sacrifice, service, concern for others, sharing, prayer, holiness, discipline etc.

Have I lost any of these? 🗝️🔑🗝️🔑

*Think about it*

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

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*

How to understand "Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 13th Week -  Monday*

*GOSPEL - Mt 8:18-22*

*First Reading - Gn 18:16-33*

*How to understand "Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”*

*1) It is not that his Father is already dead*

When he speaks about the burial of his father, it is not that his father is dead and he has to do the necessary things for funeral 

He is speaking about the death of his father in the future. So once that is done he will come and follow Jesus 

So Jesus is not against the burial of the dead, if he has to do it immediately

*2) He may live for some more years*

Since his father is living now, no one knows how many years he will live 

It may be 10 years or 20 years or may be more 

So this person is indirectly saying, now he can't follow Jesus. Once his father dies he will follow Jesus 

Accordingly he may have to wait for 10 or 20 or more years 

So this is issues involved here when he says *Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”*

*3) The aspect of inheritance and financial security*

The person is also thinking about his father's inheritance and his share which will come from his father 

So he is more interested in the material things like property, wealth and money which he will get it from his father after his death 

So behind the death of his father there lies the greed for material things 

*4) This appears as an excuse to escape from the responsibility*

The burial of his father, appears as a simple excuse to Jesus' call for following him 

It is very clear from his gesture that he is not interested in following Jesus. Since he could not say it, he gives the excuse of the  burial of his father and tries to escape from the responsibility

*5) Misplaced priorities*

The attitude of the person clearly shows the misplaced priorities in his life 

More than the spiritual things he was after the material things, which he wanted to possess. 

This shows that his priorities  for material things and not for spiritual things 

*6) The concept of death/dead*

Let the dead bury their own dead 

Here the *dead* is applicable to those 

who are dead to the spiritual things 

Who are dead to the simplicity of life 

Who are dead to giving up everything in order to follow Jesus 

Who are dead to the sacrifice, love, commitment, service, desire for greater and heavenly things etc 

Once a person is dead to the above things, he becomes useless or like a dead person 

When a person is still alive but dead to the good things he is almost like a dead person, that is the greatest tragedy of ones life 

*7) What about my life?*

What answers do I have when Jesus tells me *Come and follow me?*

What is my attitude when the situation comes to give up everything and follow Jesus?

Do I have excuse like *Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”?*

What is my attachment to the worldly things?

As a living person have I already dead to spiritual things and kingdom values?

*Think about it*

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

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*