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7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2/22/2014

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          Let me begin this homily with the last sentence of the Gospel Passage we have for this Sunday: “You must be therefore perfect just as your heavenly father is perfect.” What does it mean to be perfect? Well, the word used in the original version of St Matthew is: TELEIOS. It can be translated as: “fully developed, mature, initiated, sacrosanct. That’s an echo of the words God spoke to Moses as we heard it in the Book of Leviticus: “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” The perfection, the holiness we hear of this Sunday flows from a deep relationship with Our Heavenly Father. It is the outcome of our desire to be his child. Often at church we hear that we are children of God, but my question now is: “Do you want to be a child of God?” I guess most of us have heard of some people taking it to court to prove that they are children of this man or that woman. However I have never heard of a person fighting such a case if there were no inheritance involved. Usually it is about getting a portion of the estate of somebody they claim to be their parent. However Jesus speaks about a different situation. Imagine a child who is so proud of her parent. The child pointing out to the mum or dad says: “That’s my mother. That’s my father. And look at me. Can you see that I resemble them?” This situation involves striving, a strong desire within the child to be like her parent. That’s what Jesus talks about when it comes to being a child of God. To be a child of God, to be perfect, mature, fully developed TELEIOS means resemblance. It means that in my life I live the values that are dear, that are close to the heart of my Heavenly Father.
          That’s why to get the message of the sayings of Jesus from the beginning of this Gospel Passage about offering a cheek or allowing somebody to take our tunic and coat maturity is needed.
          “If a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” We aren’t Israelites from Jesus’ time that’s why we don’t picture the situation. A tunic at that time it was what today we call underwear. You know, in my life a few times things have been stolen from me, but never underwear. It is even harder to imagine somebody taking you to court to get your underwear. Why is it hard for us to imagine that? Because we don’t face such forms of poverty. Jesus’ message here is not about encouraging stealing and us being passive to react to it but Our Blessed Lord tells us if there is such a drastically poverty stricken person that he or she wants to take your tunic, your underwear give to him your coat as well. It means that something wrong has gone with our community that we have allowed this to happen. But don’t apply this rule to IPads, smartphones, laptops, jewelry etc.
          Another thing Jesus spoke of is this: “Offer the wicked man no resistance. If anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well.” Let me now read a couple of verses from the Chapter 18 of the Gospel of St John, it is about Jesus’ trail: “One of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand. Jesus answered him: If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Previously I spoke that laptops, jewelry etc aren’t included in what Jesus meant. It is easy to understand that. Now, when it comes to the rule about offering no resistance to somebody slapping you it is more complex. I don’t have time to explore it fully but let me give you this. If you start hurting somebody and you tell the person that as a good Christian he or she should offer you no resistance that’s a smelly situation. The same happens when somebody else starts hurting you and the person expects you to offer no resistance, it is a smelly situation. The red warning light should come on in your head then. Let’s remember that no one has any right to abuse, hurt another person physically, verbally, emotionally, spiritually etc.
Apart from that so called tolerance or acceptance of wrongdoing of a person, simply encourages evil to prevail. Remember forgiveness is not a cover for evil. As a Christian you have your right to defend yourself from hurt in a way that doesn’t add evil to evil. As a Christian you have also right to take steps that can help the wrongdoer to change. A classic example is with what in the Church we call the separation of spouses. We know that in the Catholic Church there is no divorce but even such a sacred bond as marriage cannot be used to tolerate abuse and hurt done by one party to another. That’s how we arrive at the separation. It means that all the means for change have been exhausted but it didn’t work. So now the person who is being abused or hurt should say: “I am going away to protect myself and give you a chance to fix yourself.”
That’s why holiness, perfection, maturity, in one word - TELEIOS isn’t an abstract term but it originates in God who is so TELEIOS – mature that he doesn’t manipulate people and he also doesn’t allow anyone to manipulate him. When I am asked if I am tolerant I always say: “No, I am a very intolerant person.” How come? That’s what I have learnt from Our Heavenly Father who doesn’t tolerate evil to the extent that he sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to help us mature in divine way and to help other to mature too.


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Oblate Community at St Mary's Seminary, Mulgrave, Victoria

2/18/2014

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Some people have been asking me about photos of the St Mary’s Seminary in Mulgrave, Victoria which is my new home now. I didn’t want to start with pictures of the building as the seminary is about students whom in the Oblate Congregation we call scholastics. That’s why I have waited until our little community was complete. A few days ago scholastics Anthony and Casmir returned from their holidays and joined scholastic Sayyane. As scholastics are back Fr Christian and I can begin the formation ministry here. I must say that I am most impressed with our scholastics. They arrived on Sunday night and on Monday morning they were up and doing vacuuming and other jobs around to prepare the seminary for the visit of the Oblates on occasion of our 188 Anniversary of Papal Approval. What impresses me most is that they did those jobs without even being told. I can see that they have received such a great religious and Oblate training which we call formation. It reminds me some words of my superior from the time when I was a scholastic myself. He would keep telling us: “I don’t believe in the religion of the people who keep talking about the Holy Trinity, Mary and Joseph but don’t see that the carpet needs to be vacuumed or the windows cleaned.” The more a person grows in faith the more he or she should be looking for the ways to serve others following the example of Christ who said that he came to serve not to be served.

As we are commencing the new formation (training) year here at St Mary’s I ask your prayers for these three young men so that the coming months can result not only in good marks at University but first and furthermore in the passion for Christ and the People of God.
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From the left Scholastics Sayyane, Anthony and Casmir
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Our little family
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188th Anniversary of the Papal approval of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate

2/17/2014

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PictureSt Eugene presenting to Pope Leo XII Oblate Constitutions
On 17th February 1826, Pope Leo XII gave a formal approval of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary (OMI). The decision of the Holy Father was a prophetic vision of the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in the Oblates. The Pope must have envisaged of how much this new order could contribute to the evangelization mission of the whole Church. Without this explanation it is hard to understand Pope’s decision. At that time there were only 22 Oblates preaching parish missions in the forgotten region of Provence in France. This little group couldn’t stand out because of their numbers but they did stand out because of their zeal for the salvation of souls and their love for Jesus Christ. When the Oblate Congregations was approved it meant that the Church through the authority of the Pope confirmed that the way of life which St Eugene lived and shared with his first companions was a sure way to heaven. After 188 years we, Oblates, still treasure the book of our Constitutions and Rules approved then as a gift from heaven to lead us to heaven and empowering us to take with us on this most exciting journey those we minster to.

Today our seminary of St Mary’s in Melbourne hosted 20 Oblates from Victoria who gathered to celebrate this Oblate Feast day. A thanksgiving liturgy presided by our Provincial Fr Leo OMI involved all of us in glorifying God for the gift of our vocation. Every year on February 17, as Oblates we thank God for calling us to the Oblate Congregation and we also thank God for calling our Order to serve our brothers and sisters. On this day all the Oblates renew their vows which have united us as brothers in one religious family and provided us with faith environment that enables us to identify ourselves with Our Blessed Lord. The thanksgiving liturgy found its extension in the fraternal meal. As I was looking around the table I was just overcome by wonder how closely the commitment to Christ can draw people to each other. We are such a diverse group and still we are a family with such tight and strong bonds.
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6 Sunday in Ordinary Time - Homily

2/15/2014

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A few days ago I came across results of a survey which was done in a European country. More than 90  respondents supported tougher measures in fighting pedophilia and other sexual crimes. However another survey done in the same county found that 85  respondents are against making pornography illegal.
          I just wander how many of those who were in favor of pornography would say with full conviction that celibacy of priests in the Catholic Church contributes to pedophilia. But my question is, if the celibacy is such a danger to a wellbeing of a person how come that criminals in prison are not allowed to have an active sexual life. If we care about their improvement and their better adaptation to the society why do we make them celibates when they serve their time behind the bars?
My Brothers and Sisters!
I call it the syndrome of a sunburnt child. The child who comes home after running shirtless and without any sun protection for the whole day in January Sun and looking at his red skin asks: “How did happen to me?” The truth is, blame yourself for your laziness that stopped you from “wasting” 15 minutes to apply sunblock, for your stubbornness in not listening to advice of mum and dad, for being worked up by having fun that you didn’t pay attention to what was happening around you.
Jesus’ words he have just heard go deeper than the virtue of the Pharisees and Scribes who focused on the exterior. Our Blessed Lord looks at the heart of a human being as in the heart he sees the beginning of all evil that can develop into visible sins of murder, adultery, false witness, using God for my own purposes or using God to manipulate others, like the Pharisees and the Scribes did. What Jesus says in the Gospel for this Sunday is not a made up reflection but it is a reaction to what he can see in us. I would like to invite you to imagine Jesus as a doctor looking at his patient CAT scan which gives a quite clear picture of the inside of the body. The main difference when it comes to Jesus is that he doesn’t need a machine to see what is in us and he can see what no CAT scan can spot. Jesus can see what is happening is our soul. I am always amazed when I meditate on that, that Jesus can read our soul like an open book, nothing is hidden to him, and still he wants to work on us. In spite of our sins he offers us his grace, his Holy Spirit, his mercy and compassion as medicine for us.
          He also offers us his wisdom which St Paul spoke of in the Letter to the Corinthians, “the hidden wisdom of God that was predestined for our glory before the ages began. It is the wisdom that none of the masters of this age have ever known. These are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God.”
The wisdom that makes us aware that our what is inside us is more than some organs and bones but that there is soul too that is an alive and integral part of who we are and that there are connections and consequences between what happens in our soul and our behavior. It is wisdom which we followers of Christ, call wisdom enlightened by faith.
          Some months ago I did a course in the Holy Land. The class was made of students from US and Canada, I was the only one from Australia. Anyway, at the orientation session our lecturer explained to us some differences between America and Israel. He said: “In America you live on lawsuits. In Israel we live using our senses. And he went on: I America if there is a hole in the road there is also a sign saying: There is a hole ahead of you. Please don’t fall into it. In Israel if there is a hole it is presumed that you know that you shouldn’t fall into it.”
          May the wisdom of God given to us, keep us alert and sensible in our judgment and in applying into our Christian life principles that remind us that we are closer to God than to animals.


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5th Sunday in the Ordinary Time - Homily

2/8/2014

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          Last year I visited Buffalo, a city located just on the border of US and Canada. It used to be one of the biggest and fastest growing cities in US. Some years ago the industry businesses moved overseas to reduce the cost of production. The impact of the move affected the area. Lack of jobs forced lots of people to move out. One day I walked to the CBD. The streets I was walking were very quiet but because it was chilly I simply thought that the people were indoors. When I was coming back it was dark and I started feeling very uncomfortable as there was no light in the houses. They were abandoned. Believe me that’s a very eerie and frightening experience. No light meant no human presence.
          My Sisters and Brothers in faith!
          Our Blessed Lord speaks to us today: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.” Very often when you visit old places, for example in Europe, you hear that the castles were built on the mountains because they were secure up there. It was difficult to capture them. However what Jesus speaks about in the Gospel is different. He refers to the cities built on the hill-tops not for security purposes but to be orientation points for travellers, especially for those making their way through wilderness. If they got lost the night wouldn’t be a terrifying time but the environment exposing the city lights, and showing the way.
          As followers of Christ, as his Church we are called not to separate ourselves from the world, but as Jesus said: “Your light must shine in the sight of men.” In the Gospel of St John there is a sentence describing the mission of St John the Baptist: “He came as the witness to speak for the light.” John wasn’t the light. Jesus is the light. John was speaking for the light by his way of the living. People looking him saw God saw clearly that some thought that John was God. That how the Baptist was transformed by the Word of God. His way of life spoke about God.
God the Father has given the world the Sun to produce light during the daytime and the moon to reflect the light of the Sun at night. The physical world needs the light of the Sun as without light the life would cease on earth. But we humans need more than the brightness of the Sun because we have more than physicality. We have souls. That’s why God the Father has given us his Son Jesus Christ, the light of the human world. His light reaches deeper than the surface of our skin. It reaches the depth of our being, our soul, with its power of healing.
If the amount of sunshine were the reason for full happiness, here in Australia we shouldn’t have any depressions, suicides, broken marriages, but as we know we do have these things. We can say that this sunny continent keeps reminding the rest of the planet that the light of the Sun is insufficient for humans. We need Jesus Christ, the light of the world, because only his light can keep our soul alive and growing.
If you feel sometimes that being a Christian seems to be old-fashioned and not appreciated, read the Gospel Passage from St Matthew about the city built on the hill-top to be easily seen by all. Nobody is a Christian for himself or herself but to be Christ’s light-bearer. Like there is no day without night there is no human being without periods of darkness. Those periods aren’t pleasant, for sure, but they aren’t a tragedy, they are part of our story, a tragedy would be if there were no Christian dispelling the darkness of the situation with the light of the Messiah by their faith being shown in their way of life.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.”


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Feast of the Presentation of the Lord - Homily

2/2/2014

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I was told about some elderly nuns who live in their convent. They hoped to spend the rest of their life together as a community. However they don’t have money to keep the place. That’s why they will need to move to a few nursing homes. It means that they will be separated. When asked how they felt about this prospect they answered: “We believe that it is an invitation from Jesus to use our final years to minister to the residents of those nursing homes by living among them. We thought that all that was left for us was waiting for death but now losing our convent we are given an opportunity to do ministry.”
My sisters and brothers!
         On this feast of the Presentation of the Lord we observe the day of Consecrated Life. We reflect and pray for sisters, brothers and priests of various orders, congregations and institutes living their lives based on the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.  Usually it is explained by what our religious renounce but what is important is that the religious vows express the encounter the person has had with Christ. The passage from the Gospel we have for this Mass shows Christ crossing the path of two old people: Simeon and Anna. A person who wants to be a nun, brother or vowed priest has had this experience of Christ crossing his or her path. This encounter is so transforming that the vows cannot be considered as something imposed but as a desire to become like Christ who was chaste, poor and obedient. If you love somebody, you want to become like this person. When Christ comes to you like he came to St Benedict, St Clare, St Francis, St Ignatius Loyola, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and so many others, and your heart is as open as theirs, you give your life to Christ. Then the feelings and desires that filled his sacred heart fill your heart too. You want to do what Christ wants to do. That’s why the nuns I spoke of didn’t feel sorry for themselves because of what was happening to their convent but they were sensitive and responsive to the call of the Lord. What they vowed years ago transformed them so deeply that their wanted to bring God to the lives of others because Christ wants it.
         To conclude this homily I would like to ask you to pray for new religious. Our world needs people who can be walking signs of Christ. To those who may be asking if Christ is calling them to this way of life I can say: “Listen to what is in your heart. If the question: “What Christ would do if he were me?” comes often to your mind and you find yourself that you want to do things that will please him, it is a sign that something has happened to you. Christ has crossed your path. If you let it take you further. Christ will transform you according to his sacred heart. Do not be afraid to say: Here I am Lord. I want to follow you in religious life.

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