13th Ordinary Sunday

THE POWER OF TOUCH

The miracles in today’s Gospel are extraordinary for they demonstrate Jesus’ power over life and death. The woman with the discharge of blood has been suffering from the disease for so many years and no number of physicians or no amount of money could make her better. Instead, they could only make her situation worse. The woman with this condition is as good as dead for life has become miserable for her. Her encounter with Jesus changes her condition. She is a person of deep faith in Jesus and deeply grateful as well. She receives a new lease of life. The little girl, Jairus’ daughter, has actually died and there is no hope for her return. But Jesus raises her back to life thereby demonstrating his power over death too. The greatest miracle is when God raised Jesus back to life never to die again. Eternal life is what we too hope for and God will raise us too. The First Reading tells us that God has not created death, but death entered the world through the evil one. In the Second Reading Paul informs the Corinthians that Jesus Christ, being rich, has made himself poor. The implication is that by being charitable no one is going to become poor.

Liturgical materials for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ECIgc4_eTB_KuvdyDNiZmD_zdcZUioVv?usp=sharing

Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul

THE ROCK AND THE PILLAR

On June 29 the Church celebrates the feast day of Sts. Peter & Paul. As early as the year 258, there is evidence of an already lengthy tradition of celebrating the solemnities of both Saint Peter and Saint Paul on the same day. Together, the two saints are the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, ministry, and martyrdom there.

St. Peter suffered martyrdom under Nero, in A.D. 66 or 67. He was buried on the hill of the Vatican where recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of the Basilica of St. Peter's. St. Paul was beheaded in the Via Ostia on the spot where now stands the basilica bearing his name. Down the centuries Christian people in their thousands have gone on pilgrimage to the tombs of these Apostles.

In a sermon in the year 395, St. Augustine of Hippo said of Sts. Peter and Paul: “Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, and Paul followed. And so, we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles' blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labours, their sufferings, their preaching, their ministry, and their confession of faith.”

Liturgy for the Feast of Saints Peter & Paul.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WfB_1f7lsqEKrK3yfXi0gBYxI7uFwreB?usp=sharing

12th Ordinary Sunday

TRUSTING IN GOD’S POWER

The miracle at the sea points to Jesus’ power over nature. As Jesus and the disciples cross the sea to go to the other side which is predominantly a Gentile territory, a storm rises, and the boat begins to be inundated by the waves crashing on the boat. Jesus sleeps through it all. He is able to sleep deeply in the midst of a storm while the disciples cry out to him in panic, accusing him of ignoring their life-threatening situation. While Jesus has power to calm the storm, the disciples demonstrate their fear and lack of faith and the lack of understanding of Jesus’ identity and power. Faith in God is essential at all times. In the First Reading, the Lord’s answer to Job covers the various features involved in the work of creation such as taming and dressing the sea in swaddling clothes at its birth, and marking its boundaries. In the Second Reading Paul writes about the significance of Christ’s death and its implications for believers. The purpose of Christ’s death helps us to adopt a new way of living no longer centred on ourselves but on Christ who died and rose for all. We become a new creation.

Liturgical materials for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_Z3od0-2jjVkE0hRbyNXPIbpPSnuMvK_?usp=sharing

11th Ordinary Sunday

TRUSTING IN GOD'S PLAN

The gospel of today contains the parables of the Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed. Jesus explains through these parables the nature of the Kingdom of God. In the first parable the farmer sows the seed in the ground. After having sown the seed the farmer does nothing more. He goes about his other usual activities like sleeping and rising day after day. Meanwhile the seed sprouts, grows and bears fruit. His next activity is to reap the harvest which is sure to come. This parable highlights the mysterious nature of the kingdom. The parable of the mustard seed highlights the kingdom’s growth well beyond its humble beginnings. The focus is on the seed and its size in comparison to the plant that results from the seed. The kingdom has great potential for growth. In the First Reading Ezekiel uses the imagery of the great tree to bring home the message that God can humble the mighty and raise up the lowly. In the Second Reading Paul writes that what really matters is not speculation about the future state of life, but a firm determination to please God.

Liturgical materials for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WfTOs8CGbHASs-TiyMXDD7w2MC2oCY0J?usp=sharing

Tamil Response Hymn - https://youtu.be/je_VoefiS6o

10th Ordinary Sunday

OVERCOMING EVIL

Accusing a person falsely is a grave sin against truth. It can cause serious damage to the reputation of a person against whom false accusations are made. If innocent people are punished or sent to jail for a crime he/she has not committed, somebody has spoken against the truth. We come across such an issue in the gospel of today. Two grave accusations are made against Jesus that are totally untrue. The first is spreading the false news that Jesus has gone out of his mind. Hearing this the family people are also worried and they go looking for him to bring him home. The second accusation comes from the Scribes who say that Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons. Jesus vehemently disproves the second accusation and calls it a grave or eternal sin against the Holy Spirit for which there is no forgiveness. God’s Spirit dwells in Jesus and he uses it in the powerful works he does including the casting out of demons. First Reading speaks about the sin of the first parents. In the Second Reading Paul understands suffering from the point view of faith and not reason.

Liturgical materials for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1h5KDj887fDqPXzokL2MeOi9qRsEYb2i-?usp=sharing

Tamil Response Hymn - https://youtu.be/8gYfe4vEY_k

Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary

HEARTS OF FIRE AND LOVE

The blood and water have always been seen by Roman Catholics to mystically symbolize and effect the origin and the Sacraments of the Catholic Church. It was at the piercing of Christ's Heart in death that Mary's Heart was pierced in spirit, thus fulfilling Luke 2:35 (cf. above), and exemplifying the profound mystical union of the Heart of Jesus with the Heart of Mary in the work of our redemption. This union began when by the power of the Holy Spirit Mary conceived the Heart of Jesus beneath Her own Heart. It is consummated when at one and the same time these Two Hearts are immolated for our salvation. And now in heaven it continues forever as the sole source of mankind's salvation and sanctification.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Sacred Heart of Jesus represents Christ's divine love for us. A human element of who Jesus is. The devotion especially emphasizes the compassion and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is not only radiant with love for us, but it is a wounded heart, encircled by thorns, and pierced—the heart we tried to kill, a love we tried to extinguish.

The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was first celebrated on August 31, 1670 in France. Celebration of the feast spread but it took the visions of St. Marguerite Marie Alacoque (1647-1690) for it to become universal. From the time she was twenty, she experienced visions of Christ, and on December 27, 1673, she began a series of revelations that were to continue over the next year and a half. In them Christ informed her that she was his chosen instrument to spread devotion to his Sacred Heart.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary focuses on Mary’s love for God, her maternal love for her son, Jesus, and encourages us to imitate her humility, gratitude, obedience, and adoration. The roses surrounding Mary’s heart represent her sinlessness and purity, sweetness, and new life. The sword piercing the top of the heart represents her redemptive suffering as a “spiritual crucifixion.”

As far back as the thirteenth century, devotions to the Heart of Mary were popular. In the midst of WWII, Pope Pius X11 put the whole world under the special protection of our Savior’s mother by consecrating it to her Immaculate Heart. In 1944 he decreed that in the future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as we know it today.

Liturgy for the Feasts of Sacred Heart of Jesus & Immaculate Heart of Mary.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tpeoTHIcNY__lz8lsf41n79elxbWt-Wo?usp=drive_link

Corpus Christi Feast

THE COVENANT OF EUCHARIST

The institution of Corpus Christi as a feast in the Christian calendar originated in Belgium through the work of Juliana of Liège who was born in 1193. Juliana was a nun and mystic who had a series of visions in which she was instructed by Our Lord to work to establish a liturgical feast for the Holy Eucharist. Soon after her death, Pope Urban instituted the feast of Corpus Christi for the Universal Church in 1264. At the Last Supper Jesus transformed the bread into his body and similarly the vine into his blood. Christians have adopted the Eucharist as the primary form of their worship. According to the author of the Letter to the Hebrews Jesus’ sacrifice is far superior because he has shed his own blood for the redemption of his people. In the Gospel, the disciples make preparations for the Last Supper during which Jesus institutes the Eucharist. Do we draw nourishment and strength from the Eucharist?

Liturgical materials for the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi).

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jTcQuNEHa5reXY2ZOx5Ufwgsl6siBJTj?usp=sharing

Tamil Response Hymn - https://youtu.be/zZ9lHnlId54