My dear brothers and sisters,
As we enter into the most Holy and important week of the year, we celebrate the entry of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem, the "Paschal Mystery" of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
Since we have prepared ourselves in the holy and fruitful season of Lent, we must have courage to enter Jerusalem with Jesus. We, too, must become the worthy parts of this celebration of Passion, Death and Resurrection. We must be able to resist all the temptation (theme of the first Sunday of Lent), we should be worthy sons and daughters of the Father in heaven (theme of the second Sunday of Lent) and we should be producing spiritual fruit (theme of the third Sunday of Lent). This is what the whole meditation of Lent is all about.
Thus, having true and ample knowledge of our Father (theme of the fourth Sunday of Lent), we learn that He has given us his loving and forgiving son in the person of Jesus. This knowledge will enable us to celebrate and live this Paschal Mystery.
After the solemn entry and singing, "Hosanna Filio David," we shall listen to the first reading from the prophet Isaiah 50:4-7. Here, the prophet, after explaining how the suffering son of God will respond to the persecution, says: “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame." This must be the confidence of us, the chosen servants of God.
This confidence will take us to the second reading from the letter of St. Paul to Philippians 2:6-11. St. Paul summarizes the whole purpose of God’s sending Jesus to this world. He came to suffer and die: “Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
What a wonderful outcome of the celebration of the Paschal Mystery!
The passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke describes what my Lord has done for me. These details will tell us the true History as to what my Lord and Master has done for me. While saying, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" what a sigh of satisfaction Jesus must have had.
I am expected to live this mystery and do what Jesus did in memory of HIM .
--Fr. Mingel D'Souza
Message for the Fifth Sunday of Lent
My brothers and sisters:
In the preceding weeks of Lent, we have called upon the help of God to resist temptation, become worthy sons of the Father, and produce spiritual fruit. Now, in the final week of Lent before Holy Week, we see, again, the immeasurable love of God as we meditate upon the words of our Lord to the adulterous woman: “Go and sin no more.”
In today’s reading, we learn first that we are made to know and love God. In Isaiah 43:16-21, after describing the marvelous things he has done for his chosen people, the Lord proclaims the Israelites are “the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise." In Philippians 3:8-14, St. Paul continues this theme when he speaks of “the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” God made us to know him, and therefore praise him and love him, forever. That is why we each exist.
In the Gospel according to St. John 8:1-11, we find the scribes and Pharisees so consumed with identifying and punishing the women for her adultery that they do not recognize their own spiritual adultery. That is why Jesus confronts them, saying, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” If they knew the purpose of the law — to enable us to know and love God, that is, to fulfill our purpose in life — they would know one cannot apply the law to others when one does not apply the law to himself.
As we reach the conclusion of Lent, we see that penance is never an end unto itself. The end of penance is to “go and sin no more,” so that we may fulfill our life’s purpose to know and love God.
In the preceding weeks of Lent, we have called upon the help of God to resist temptation, become worthy sons of the Father, and produce spiritual fruit. Now, in the final week of Lent before Holy Week, we see, again, the immeasurable love of God as we meditate upon the words of our Lord to the adulterous woman: “Go and sin no more.”
In today’s reading, we learn first that we are made to know and love God. In Isaiah 43:16-21, after describing the marvelous things he has done for his chosen people, the Lord proclaims the Israelites are “the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise." In Philippians 3:8-14, St. Paul continues this theme when he speaks of “the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” God made us to know him, and therefore praise him and love him, forever. That is why we each exist.
In the Gospel according to St. John 8:1-11, we find the scribes and Pharisees so consumed with identifying and punishing the women for her adultery that they do not recognize their own spiritual adultery. That is why Jesus confronts them, saying, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” If they knew the purpose of the law — to enable us to know and love God, that is, to fulfill our purpose in life — they would know one cannot apply the law to others when one does not apply the law to himself.
As we reach the conclusion of Lent, we see that penance is never an end unto itself. The end of penance is to “go and sin no more,” so that we may fulfill our life’s purpose to know and love God.
Message for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
We continue our journey through the holy and fruitful season of Lent. The First Sunday of Lent proclaimed that we can overcome temptations with the help of the word of God, the Second Sunday that we should be the worthy sons and daughters in whom the Father is well pleased, and the Third Sunday that the Lord expects fruit from us, and if we do not produce fruit, he will cut us off. Which brings us to the message of the Fourth Sunday: that the greatest spiritual fruit is the true knowledge of the God the Father.
In Joshua 5:9, 10-12, we see the Chosen People enter the Promised Land and eat of the bountiful produce and yield of the land. What we can know from this history of the Chosen People is that the loving Father yearns to feed his children with the finest wheat, the ultimate food being the Bread of Life.
Next, in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, St. Paul proclaims that “whoever is in Christ is a new creation.” Through the Sacraments, in particular Baptism, Confirmation, Reconcilation, and of course, the Blessed Sacrament, our loving Father creates us anew, and to make this possible, the Father offered up his only Son. To truly know the Father is to know that he sacrifices everything for his children.
Finally, in the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 15:1-3, 11-32, the Lord Jesus illustrates most dramatically the Father’s readiness to forgive us and return us to his fold. When we come to the Father repenting of our sins and seeking reconciliation, he does not ask, “Where did you go? What did you do? Why have you come back to me?” No, it is enough for him to say, “My son was lost he is found.”
As we pass the midpoint of our Lenten journey, let us meditate on this truth: we truly know, because God has told us, that he is always ready to forgive us when we repent and turn back to him, and that he desires only to feed us. Having this true knowledge of the Father, why should we ever depart from him in the first place? Let us instead remain in the company of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
--Fr. Mingel (Michael) D'Souza
In Joshua 5:9, 10-12, we see the Chosen People enter the Promised Land and eat of the bountiful produce and yield of the land. What we can know from this history of the Chosen People is that the loving Father yearns to feed his children with the finest wheat, the ultimate food being the Bread of Life.
Next, in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, St. Paul proclaims that “whoever is in Christ is a new creation.” Through the Sacraments, in particular Baptism, Confirmation, Reconcilation, and of course, the Blessed Sacrament, our loving Father creates us anew, and to make this possible, the Father offered up his only Son. To truly know the Father is to know that he sacrifices everything for his children.
Finally, in the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 15:1-3, 11-32, the Lord Jesus illustrates most dramatically the Father’s readiness to forgive us and return us to his fold. When we come to the Father repenting of our sins and seeking reconciliation, he does not ask, “Where did you go? What did you do? Why have you come back to me?” No, it is enough for him to say, “My son was lost he is found.”
As we pass the midpoint of our Lenten journey, let us meditate on this truth: we truly know, because God has told us, that he is always ready to forgive us when we repent and turn back to him, and that he desires only to feed us. Having this true knowledge of the Father, why should we ever depart from him in the first place? Let us instead remain in the company of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
--Fr. Mingel (Michael) D'Souza
Message for the Third Sunday of Lent
My dear friends in the Lord Jesus Christ:
Once we have learned to overcome temptation with the help of the mighty hand of God (the theme of the First Sunday of Lent) and are thus confident that we can be the beloved sons and daughters of the Almighty (the theme of the Second Sunday of Lent), we can then cultivate, with the grace of God, our souls so that we can be fruitful (the theme of the Third Sunday of Lent).
In Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15, God reveals his holy name to Moses in the most simple and sublime way: “I AM WHO AM.” God simply is. Firmly planted in this reality, Moses is fruitful in bringing out the chosen people of God from the slavery of Egyptians.
In I Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12, St. Paul reveals that the spiritual food and drink that fed the Israelite people as Moses led them out of Egypt was “Christ.” Whether then or now, it is the Lord Jesus Christ that feeds us.
Finally, in the Gospel of St. Luke 13:1-9, the Lord Jesus gives us a promise and a warning. If we do not bear the fruit we ought, the Lord will be patient and continue to “cultivate and fertilize” so that we “may bear fruit in the future.” But so long as we do not bear spiritual fruit, we are useless to him, and there will come a day — the Last Day — when those who are fruitless must be cut down.
As we enter the Third Week of Lent, let us examine ourselves, ask what fruit we have produced and what fruit we have failed to produce, and let us rely on the great I AM to liberate us from sin and on the Rock that is Christ to feed us in the desert.
--Fr. Mingel D'Souza
Once we have learned to overcome temptation with the help of the mighty hand of God (the theme of the First Sunday of Lent) and are thus confident that we can be the beloved sons and daughters of the Almighty (the theme of the Second Sunday of Lent), we can then cultivate, with the grace of God, our souls so that we can be fruitful (the theme of the Third Sunday of Lent).
In Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15, God reveals his holy name to Moses in the most simple and sublime way: “I AM WHO AM.” God simply is. Firmly planted in this reality, Moses is fruitful in bringing out the chosen people of God from the slavery of Egyptians.
In I Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12, St. Paul reveals that the spiritual food and drink that fed the Israelite people as Moses led them out of Egypt was “Christ.” Whether then or now, it is the Lord Jesus Christ that feeds us.
Finally, in the Gospel of St. Luke 13:1-9, the Lord Jesus gives us a promise and a warning. If we do not bear the fruit we ought, the Lord will be patient and continue to “cultivate and fertilize” so that we “may bear fruit in the future.” But so long as we do not bear spiritual fruit, we are useless to him, and there will come a day — the Last Day — when those who are fruitless must be cut down.
As we enter the Third Week of Lent, let us examine ourselves, ask what fruit we have produced and what fruit we have failed to produce, and let us rely on the great I AM to liberate us from sin and on the Rock that is Christ to feed us in the desert.
--Fr. Mingel D'Souza
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