God’s Generosity Stands High Above Everything

God is generous in opening the doors of his kingdom to all who will enter, both those who have labored a lifetime for him and those who come at the last hour. While the reward is the same, the motive for one’s labor can make all the difference. Some work only for reward. They will only put in as much effort as they think they will get back. Others labor out of love and joy for the opportunity to work and to serve others. The Lord Jesus calls each one of us to serve God and his kingdom with joy and zeal and to serve our neighbor with a generous spirit as well.

The question is: Do you perform your daily tasks and responsibilities with cheerfulness and diligence for the Lord’s sake? And do you give generously to others, especially to those in need of your care and support?

Today’s parable is not about what the workers see but what they do not see. What they do not see is the generosity of the landowner. More specifically, they do not see the generosity of the landowner to themselves. They recognize that the landowner has chosen to be generous to those who were hired last, and they resent it. But they do not recognize how they have been given a job—a day’s labor—by which they can support their families. You see, today’s parable is about blindness, the blindness that so many of us have to the blessings of God in our lives. The parable warns us that we will never be able to see God’s generosity to us as long as we look with jealous eyes.

The parable is realistic. The parable tells us that if we are to be happy in an unfair world, we must focus less on what others have and more on the generosity that God has shown to us. Yes, we may not have the biggest office or the highest salary but we do have a job, a job by which we can earn a decent living. We do have friends and those friends are real. Our children may not be the brightest or the smartest, but they are healthy and we have a good relationship with them. Others in our family may receive more from our parents, but we have parents and they have given us life.

Therefore, we shall pray: Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may serve you joyfully and serve my neighbor willingly with a generous heart, not looking for how much I can get, but rather looking for how much I can give. Thank you, Lord, for all the Blessings that you give to me and my family.

Love and prayers,

Fr. Charley

Forgiveness Is the Key to Open Heaven

Today, through a beautiful parable, Jesus is highlighting why a Christian should be repeatedly forgiving the offenses done to him. The parable starts by saying “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king.” This king is enormously rich. “A huge amount” in v. 24 is literally translated as “ten thousand talents,” which is equal to seven hundred and fifty-five thousand pounds of gold! This servant is pleading for more time to pay back the loan. V.27 says, “Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.” The loan of such an enormous amount is written off! This resembles the mercy of our Heavenly Father. He writes off all our sins and offenses!

“A much smaller amount” in V.28 is literally translated as “a hundred denarii.” A denarius was the normal daily wage of a laborer. Therefore, a hundred denarii when compared to 755,000 pounds of gold is nothing! The mercy of God is without any limits. He forgives all our sins. And so, a Christian has to forgive all the offenses done to him. At the end of the story, we see the servant in prison and being tortured for NOT forgiving! If you don’t forgive, then you will find yourself in prison/in bondage and being tortured!

Offenses leave us with inner wounds. Inner wounds are more painful and will take more time to heal. But still, let us keep in mind that there is no wound that God cannot heal. Inner healing needs more time and so we need more time to forgive the offenders. Let us take strong willful decisions that we will forgive, and then in due time we will be able to forgive the other.

If we can forgive unconditionally, then we will enjoy absolute freedom as children of God. It is these forgiving and loving deeds of mercy that help us to be blessed and to enjoy peace.

Forgiveness is a heavenly gift that God has already put into our hearts. It is also a sacred duty. Always take these gifts and put them into practice towards our brethren. Don’t think that when you forgive others you become less before others; you become greater! Forgiveness is the key to open heaven. That’s how Jesus opened heaven for us. When He was crucified, He looked down and saw his offenders and Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father to forgive them, “because they do not know what they are doing.” We shall ask the Good Lord to give us a heart like His to forgive others unconditionally. Make our hearts like Thine. Be blessed and always be a blessing to others.

With love and prayers,

Fr. Charley

If your brother sins against you…

A MESSAGE FROM FR. CHARLEY

As Seen in the Bulletin

September 10, 2023

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If your brother sins against you...

Today's first reading is from The Book of Ezekiel. The Lord makes it clear that the prophet should be the guide of the people of Israel. If the prophet fails to warn a sinner, then he will be held responsible for that sinner.

In today's second reading, the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul concludes that love is the fulfillment of the law. He makes it very clear that one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Today, we should take all the three readings as one single unit. Jesus made it clear that he has come not to call the righteous but the sinners (Matthew 9:13). In fact, in Matthew 18:14 Jesus says, "It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."

Today's message could very well be derived from the prominent question and answer in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis 4:9, "Then the Lord asked Cain, 'where is your brother Abel?' He answered, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?'"

Yes... I am my brother's keeper! I should be responsible for his life. Today’s Gospel is all about how to bring back the lost brethren. Jesus is trying to tell us that our brother must not be lost by us anytime but always to bring him back to a love relationship.

Jesus came into this world to bring back the lost one, not looking for the righteous ones or good ones.

We are here to express our relationship to God, but God is concerned about our relationships with each other. Matt.18:20 says "When two or three are gathered for my sake, there am I in the midst of them." When we are mutually connected, God is there. Therefore, God’s relationship with us and our relationships with others are interconnected.

According to St. Augustine of Hippo, "If someone has done you injury and you have suffered, what should be done?" You have heard the answer already in today's scripture: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone." If you fail to do so, you are worse than he is. He has done someone harm, and by doing harm he has stricken himself with a grievous wound. Will you then completely disregard your brother's wound? Will you simply watch him stumble and fall down? Will you disregard his predicament? If so, you are worse in your silence than he in his abuse. Therefore, when any one sins against us, let us take great care, but not merely for ourselves. For it is a glorious thing to forget injuries. Just set aside your own injury, but do not neglect your brother's wound. Therefore "'go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone,' intent upon his amendment but sparing his sense of shame" (Excerpt from Sermon 82.7).

Love and prayers,

Fr. Charley