This Sermon is prepared by

Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US



ஞாயிறு மறையுரைகள்

மதிப்பிற்குரிய அருட்பணியாளர்களே, துறவிகளே, அருட் கன்னியரே, உங்கள் ஞாயிறு மறையுரைகளை எமது இணையத்தளத்தின் ஆன்மீக வலத்தில் பிரசுரித்து, ஆண்டவர் இயேசுவின் நற்செய்தியை எல்லோருக்கும் அறிவிக்க விரும்பினால், info@tamilcatholicnews.com என்ற எமது மின்னஞ்சலுக்கு உங்களுடைய ஆக்கங்களை அனுப்பிவைக்கவும். உங்கள் மறையுரைகள் உலகெங்கும் இருக்கும் அனைத்து தமிழ் உள்ளங்களையும் சென்றடையும்.



இதோ! ஓநாய்களிடையே ஆடுகளை அனுப்புவதைப்போல நான் உங்களை அனுப்புகிறேன். எனவே பாம்புகளைப்போல முன்மதி உடையவர்களாகவும் புறாக்களைப்போலக் கபடு அற்றவர்களாகவும் இருங்கள்.
(மத்தேயு 10:16)

நீங்கள் போய் எல்லா மக்களினத்தாரையும் சீடராக்குங்கள்; தந்தை, மகன், தூய ஆவியார் பெயரால் திருமுழுக்குக் கொடுங்கள். நான் உங்களுக்குக் கட்டளையிட்ட யாவையும் அவர்களும் கடைப்பிடிக்கும்படி கற்பியுங்கள். இதோ! உலக முடிவுவரை எந்நாளும் நான் உங்களுடன் இருக்கிறேன்
(மத்தேயு 28:19-20)

நீ அவற்றை உன் பிள்ளைகளின் உள்ளத்தில் பதியுமாறு சொல். உன் வீட்டில் இருக்கும்போதும், உன் வழிப்பயணத்தின் போதும், நீ படுக்கும்போது, எழும்போதும் அவற்றைப் பற்றிப் பேசு.
(இணைச்சட்டம் 6:7)








31st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Re-living the memories of the Beloved…

Wis3:1-9;
Rom6:3-9;
Jn6:37-40

Dear Sisters, Brothers and Children, I welcome you to remember your loved ones and to re-live their memories in this Eucharistic Celebration. We have an opportunity to reflect about the reality of life in God and gather the memories of the beloved in the Eucharistic prayer, as all souls day falls on Sunday this Liturgical calendar. Eucharist is the highest form of prayer where we encounter and enter into union with our Lord. Eucharist is the memorial of Our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. So it is the place and moment to gather the memories of our beloved people and celebrate their life gratefully, thankfully and hopefully on the altar offering to the Eucharistic Lord.

Why do we have all souls day? Why do we remember thirty or forty memorial days of the deceased? Why do we thoughtfully gather to pray on the anniversary of the departed every year? Memories never die. Love never dies. One of the patients asked me recently, whom did Jesus confirm that he will be in paradise? I answered the good thief. The man continued, yes we are sure of only one saint in heaven: the good thief. Other saints whom we venerate and seek their intercessions, are hopefully in their close journey with the Lord in His eternal home. We hope in their communion and companionship with the heavenly saints. So we join them in memory of their journey, till we can be part of this actual journey.

Once, I was called to the family consultation. The doctors confirmed with all their medical knowledge that this 53 year man suffers brain death, they cannot do much. The life gift team was there to talk about organ donation with wife. The wife asked the view of the Church regarding transplant. I offered the understanding of Church, offering for the good cause, but not misusing ethically. The next question of the wife was, then when does the soul reach heaven? And who takes care of the soul in its journey to paradise?

The words from the first reading offer consolation and confirmation that our loved ones are with the Lord. “The souls of the just are in the hands of the Lord and no torment should touch them”. This all souls day reminds us, in the words of St. Paul, that our home land is heaven, and that we should protect our soul for our eternal journey towards God’s house. In the second reading we hear that our beloved are not dead, rather they are in the fullness of life with the Lord. John again affirms the words of Jesus that life continues from this home to God’s home. The life eternal, in Him and with Him, is important.

So the only thing we can and should do for our beloved is to recall their memories and experience communion with them at the Eucharistic sacrifice in prayer. Scriptures tell us how sin offerings were given for the purification of the person at the time or after the death. But the practice of praying for the dead existed among the early Christians’ life. The life of the dead in particular those who sacrificed their lives in the persecutions were remembered constantly in their gatherings. Their life in God was celebrated, and was a great witness to the rest. The early Father of the Church, Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: "When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar" (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 9, Chapter 11, Section 27). The synods of Nicaea, Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidences to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls. The Fire of Purgatory is only a relic of medieval imagery. It is actually the Fire of Divine love.

According to Revelation: 21:27: “nothing unclean shall enter heaven.” Holy Scripture (Proverbs 24: 16) also teaches that even "the just sin seven times a day.” Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls with venial sins in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, called Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.

How do we connect to the beloved in memories? When we carry thoughts of beloved to the Eucharist, we are connected to the Lord are to our beloved. Memories never die. Eucharist is the memorial salvific act of Lord Jesus. Our beloved may be parents, spouses, children or grandchildren or friends who may have left us from this world. But their memories never go away. We shall carry all their memories gratefully and gracefully to the Lord. It may be their memories of goodness, memories of struggle and memories of traveling, and memories of sharing. When we carry their memories to the altar, first we re-live with gratitude and celebrate their life in God. Thus, we are in union with God in thoughts, in memories and in prayers.

We take more time and energy to fix flowers, food, souvenirs, nice grave, headstone and trees or plants. Is it our own desire or the desire of the beloved? Yet the best gift is prayer, because that is the only thing that can help them on their journey to the Lord. Fr. Paddy said, “I have put at the end of my will, “Please don’t spend time talking about me, and spend time praying for me”. For it is a holy and wholesome thing to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sin. While praying for them, we can pray to them too as they will be in close presence of God.

In the words of Blessed Mother Theresa “Death is nothing else but going home to God”. The gospel of today offers that death does not end, rather changes. In the words of Socrates, Death is a migration of soul from one place to another. Jesus proved that death is not the end; Calvary is not the end, rather the journey is continuous in the Lord. Our beloved are on their continuous journey with the Lord. We can reach them in memories and in prayer that is having communion with them and with the Lord.

My special funeral service of 2014 was the celebration of an 18 year old boy; it was the longest funeral I ever had, lasting for four hours. Initially in the Church with Eucharist, then at the school hall for service, finally at the burial site. I journeyed with him and with his parents for the past five months while he was undergoing all treatments, chemotherapy and stem-cell transplant. He bounced back from different moments of set-back. When he passed away, his parents told me that his last moments were exactly like those of his grandmother. They were convinced he is with his grand-ma, seeing Our Lord face to face. He agreed to offer his blood cells for study, for the benefit of the future children. He is going to be in my memory today. Remember one person close to you who has died. Bring this person’s image into your mind’s eye. As you remember his or her life, imagine the Lord Jesus escorting the person into heaven at the time of death. Finally, imagine this loved one waiting for you. Know that when your time of passing comes, the Lord and your loved ones who have gone before you will escort you into the kingdom of heaven. Those who are afraid to die have never begun to live……Amen.