Last week the Church admonished us to be prudent stewards with God's given blessings. This week also is a continuation on the same subject matter. However, today's message is more of series of warnings that the selfish and extravagant use of God’s blessings, like wealth, without sharing them with the poor and the needy is a serious sin deserving eternal punishment. The Sunday readings stress the Covenant responsibility of the rich for the poor, reminding us of the truth that wealth without active mercy for the poor is great wickedness. It warns us against making money the goal of our existence.

Again, we read today from the Prophet Amos, issuing a powerful warning to those who seek wealth at the expense of the poor and who spend their time and their money on themselves alone. He prophesies that those rich and self-indulgent people will be punished by God with exile because they don’t care for their poor and suffering brothers. Much consoling is from the Psalmist of today who praises Yahweh, who cares for the poor. St. Paul redirects our attention to that which matters most as he admonishes us to “pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness” – noble goals in an age of disillusionment – rather than riches. Like Amos Jesus also gives us a warning, pointing to the destiny of the rich man who neglected his duty to show mercy to poor Lazarus. The rich man was punished, not for having riches, but for neglecting the Scriptures and what they taught on sharing his blessings with the poor.

The greatest human value that God has blessed us with is life itself. Yes, our faith has taught us that life is far more precious than the money we have, the food we eat or the clothes we wear. This faith also has taught us the place of material things in life. That possessions are only on loan to us, and in time we must leave them all behind. Job's statement of fact in the Bible refreshes our memory about life and possessions: "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.”(Job 1:21). To drive this message home, the church selected these readings today to remind us that we are God’s stewards and that God expects faithful and prudent stewardship from us. They challenge us to use our God-given talents and blessings, like wealth, wisely to attain Heavenly bliss.

It is fundamental to our Christian faith to know again and again that God loves the just but does not ignore the sinner, for whom there is always a place in his kingdom. With the amazing warmth in His Kingdom we can always hope for a new heart and a fresh start.

Today we are invited to believe in a loving, patient, merciful, forgiving God who is actively seeking out the lost, wants their repentance and rejoices when the lost are found. We are invited to believe and celebrate a God who is eager to be merciful toward us, not vengeful and punishing but will stop at nothing until everyone is back home to Him, where abundant love awaits all. This Heavenly Father wants to save everyone through His Son Jesus, whom He sent.

”If anyone comes to me without turning his back on his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, indeed his very self, he cannot be my follower,” (Luke 14 :26).

The Church is again taking us back to this unpopular theme about the cost of our loyalty to Christ our Lord. This statement above from the gospel sets a real challenge for both the preacher and the listener. As listeners, l know you will not need explanation of Christ’s words about carrying the cross, because you are more familiar with that teaching , but you definitely will need some convincing of what He meant by “hating father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters” – a teaching that seems to fly in the face of natural affection. Indeed the ways of God are mysterious! However let's see if we can get some answers from the readings.

Yes the church in its wisdom selects the first reading from the Book of Wisdom which instructs us to ask for the gifts of discernment and strength from the Holy Spirit so that we may do the will of God as His true disciples. Truly, we need this gift of divine discerning to understand what St. Paul teaches us in the second reading that detachment and renunciation are necessary for a true disciple of Christ. Also, we need same gift to understand what the Gospel is reminding us today about counting the cost of being a true disciple and follower of Christ.

The readings describe the attitudes we should have when we give and when we receive. They also reveal that only those who are humble can receive the gift of God.

That is to say humility is the prerequisite for receiving gifts. Without a humble spirit we are unable to receive gifts as gift. This is because we are too proud or we do not know how to receive with the open hearts of children.

First reading praises the person who is humble. “My son, conduct your affairs with humility and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts,” (Sir 3:17). A humble person is conscious of his own weakness, and never rejects wisdom, no matter where it comes from. Such a person will find favor with God and with his friends and neighbors. Pride however raises a barrier to God's graciousness and to communion with our fellows.

Today all three readings speak profoundly about the same thing: following the Lord means that we shall suffer. This is never a popular theme. Often we really prefer that our faith become simply a personal comfort to us in time of need. We are not really at ease with a faith that demands that we speak up in terms of truth and justice and right. Yes, we are not always comfortable with such themes because of the price to be paid. We desire, perhaps sincerely to follow the Lord, but are deeply scared of what it will cost. Can there be any compromise?

Surely, many of us could appreciate if there's a rather more simplified form of Christianity to practice than the one with the cross. However , the fact still remains that Christianity is loyalty. It is not a theory or an ideology, but it is a faith in the person of Jesus Christ who is the Son of God. It is the imitation of His life, teachings and sacrifice on the cross. Our faith is not like a dress that if we don’t like it anymore we give it to somebody or through it away. Faith is a way of life; it is our own identification card that we constantly profess in our lives.

The internet seems to provide so much information that we can easily come to the conclusion that the answer to every question is out there. That is not true. The answers to the most important and the fundamental questions of life are not on the internet. They are not out there. They are in here; can only be found in faith.

Yes, Faith forces us to accept that which is unseen, that which is spiritual.

The readings today challenge us to reflect on this most important aspect of our relationship with God: Faith. They reveal to us the necessity for trusting Faith in God’s promises and providence and also vigilant preparedness for us Christ’s followers to meet our God as Judge and Rewarder, at the time of their death.

However, there are overwhelming evidences of crisis in the life of faith of many Catholics today. Many issues have been identified to be responsible for this which include cruelties of an unjust system, disastrous love-relationship, family tensions, tragic injury or death of a friend. These and many others are seriously wounding the faith of many Catholics today. How then can a Catholic remain steadfast in the midst of all this?

Greed can spring from lack of love, and many people try to fill that void with property and celebrity. Look around you, there is ample evidence of this on every side. However, Ecclesiastes gives bad news to those who base their hopes on the perishable wealth and goods of this world, offering us a stark message: vanity of vanities, all is vanity! That all of human life is ultimately meaningless if viewed in itself, apart from God.

Today's readings talk about the futility of the greedy acquisition of wealth and power because everything and everyone is “here today and gone tomorrow.” Hence, the meaning of life cannot be found in selfishly hoarding wealth and possessions, but only in sharing these with the needy.

We are well on our way to the new buildings.

With the first 205 pledges we have fulfilled and surpassed our first threshold. Great Work! Together with funding for school and parish space, we have also supported seminarian formation, Newman Center ministry, assistance to the poor and the growth of Catholic Education across the whole diocese.

Now, we are ascending to our final goal of $4.4 million. In this phase,100% of everything raised goes straight to our local parish project.

We can be gratefully proud of this for many generations to come. Take joy in your offering as you lift up a part of what God has entrusted to you.

Blessed is the Father, who lets the Lord be his guiding hand. Whose faith brings his family courage. Whose wisdom comes from God and whose children Still stand and honor him.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Today we celebrate Pentecost which is the solemn descent of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, on the Christian Church. The Feast of the Pentecost celebrates at least three essential things in the faith of the church:

1. It marks or celebrates the end of Easter. For Easter is not one-day celebration; it is rather a 50-day celebration.
2. Pentecost also celebrates the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Blessed Trinity, God Himself.
3. It celebrates the launching, the first appearance in public of the church of Christ.

The Sixth Sunday of Easter comes just before the Lord’s Ascension. It marks Jesus’ last presence with His disciples. The gospel reading contains Jesus’ tender farewell to His disciples. In His farewell speech he leaves them a special gift — peace of mind and heart. What a beautiful promise, what a special gift. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives". Again we hear the very beautiful statement addressed to the disciples and to all subsequent followers of the New Way: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word". The two great statements have remained for generations very crucial points for Theological reflections.

Truly no one could have ever expected it to happen!!

People whom the Jewish people normally referred to as the dogs, the Gentiles, were listening to the preaching of Jewish missionaries and were flocking to become members of the New Way, the Way of Jesus Christ. So many people throughout the various lands were becoming Christians, that Paul and Barnabas had to establish Christian communities in these foreign lands.

Indeed it's extraordinary! The Gentiles were receiving the Word of God and responding. This was beyond comprehension as Paul and Barnabas reported all this to the Christian Community of Antioch. They were convinced that God had done this. He had called the Gentiles to himself. The world was being transformed. It’s all new!

The reception of Holy Communion at Sunday Mass is such an expected feature of the Mass these days that it is surprising to realize that for many centuries, receiving Communion was a relatively rare event in the life of a faithful Christian. “Easter duty” means that Catholics must celebrate reconciliation if aware of serious sin, and receive Holy Communion during the Easter season. For a while, this was a requirement of Easter week, and later extended to the whole season of fifty days, and even beyond that by a few weeks.

It is impossible to truly meet Jesus and remain the same. All through the Easter period preceding to Pentecost we shall enjoy and celebrate the Real Presence of our Risen Lord and Savior. We shall equally be celebrating the power of transformation the glorified Risen Lord brings to all those that encountered Him. Jesus the Christ changes us and commissions us to witness to the fact of His resurrection.

As Christians, the real presence of Christ is of utmost grace because that is what shapes and forms our experience, and continually lifts our attention to the graces of heaven that give us strength and courage. Through scripture and through the Eucharist we remind ourselves of the great love by which we recognize Jesus, and in return we hear him clearly say “Follow Me”. This becomes our hearts’ desire.