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)








Ascension Sunday

No Good-bye…..Go out everywhere…….!

Acts1:1-11, Eph1:17-23, Mk16:15-20

Dear sisters, Brothers and Children, I wish you all a very happy Feast of Ascension. It is the great feast of the Church, as it is the beginning of mission, and it is the memory of empowerment of Church. We gather to celebrate this feast as members of the Church and as part of Christ’s Mystical Body. That the Ascending thoughts and experience of Jesus may enable us to rise above various pauses in our life, and to go out, continuing the mission that Christ entrusted to us.

It is time to say good-bye to school life before we begin our college…..
It is fitting to say good-bye as we move from one job to another……
It is difficult to say good-bye when we retire from long years of work…..
It takes lot of courage say good-bye when we decide to move from one state to another……
It is hard and painful to say good-bye to our loved ones………
It looks hard and difficult because we think it is the end and completion of activity, place and life. But if we believe that it is a transition to another journey, and another new way of life, then we will continue our life joyfully and gracefully. The Feast of Ascension is the transition of Jesus joining the Father to lead and guide the Church, and being seated at the right hand of the Father. His mission is being carried out and continuing with more people, in many more places and with new approaches of Evangelization.

When we speak about ascending to heaven, we may question why we profess that Jesus descended to hell? It was a Hebrew belief that hell was underworld called Sheol. It is to affirm that Jesus’ death is true and real, and so Christ went down into the depths of death in order that “the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live”. In the words of then Cardinal Ratzinger, “Christ strode through the gate of our final loneliness, that in his Passion he went down into the abyss of our abandonment. Where no voice can reach us any longer, there is He.” Psalm139:8 “If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.” This explains how our God went through the experience of darkness to liberate us from various darkness’s of life.

A long time ago there lived in England a holy man named St. Bede, known by historians as Venerable Bede. He lived from 673-735 AD. While meditating on the death of loved ones, he penned “We seem to give them back to you, O God, who gave them first to us. Yet as you did not lose them in giving, so we do not lose them by their return. Not as the world gives do you give. What you give, you do not take away. For what is yours is also ours. We are yours and life is eternal. And love is immortal, and death is only a horizon, and a horizon is but the limit to our sight.”

The readings on this feast day invite us to be partakers of this mission. We are commissioned to go out to proclaim the good news through our Baptism and other sacraments. When Mark says, “Jesus was taken up to heaven,” it is not a going up or going away. It is not a moment of good-bye or departure. The Cross is not a departure, His death is not a departure and His life is not ended or completed, rather it refers to Jesus entering to another dimension. we profess and read that He is seated at the right of God the Father. ‘Up’ is not referring to a direction, but a movement to reunite with the Father. ‘Sitting at the right hand’ speaks of power and authority with which He continues to guide and lead the Church at all times.

The message of the Feast of Ascension is not saying good-bye to Our Lord, but the ascent of the Gospel message of mission, “Go into the whole world to proclaim….they went forth and preached everywhere.” In the first reading Luke tells that “you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth, beginning from Jerusalem.” The two men in white garment tell them not to look up to say good-bye, but to look at the task and the mission.

How could the Apostles carry out Jesus’ ministry of Good News without the presence of Jesus? First they were prepared by Jesus after the Resurrection, for forty days, through teaching and preaching. Forty is the fullness of experience of God by the People of Israel, Moses, Jonah, the Prophet Elisha and the Apostles with Jesus. The different apparitions of Jesus articulate the way Jesus strengthened their memories and affirmed their call by dining and being with them.

Secondly, the descending of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles changed them to become courageous and committed persons to proclaim the living Jesus, in the midst of opposition and threats. They fulfilled the voice of John the Baptist by experiencing and offering the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, we have the accompanying presence of Jesus. He accompanies the pilgrim Church in its mission. Jesus is present in the Sacraments; He is fully present in the Eucharist; He is present in priest who celebrates the sacrament; He is present in the Bishops as vicars of Christ; He is present in the Word of God; Jesus is present in every good deed, and He is present when we gather as the People of God. This is the official teaching and belief of the Church. Other Christian communities don’t believe in the abiding presence of Jesus in the continuing mission of the Church. Jesus left the world one day in order to be available to all people throughout all time. He had to dissolve bonds he had made with his friends, in order to be available for everybody. In Jesus, the future has already begun!

Paul says: "God brought us to life with Christ…and gave us a place with him in heaven." (Eph 2:6). When we are part of this continuing mission and ministry of proclaiming the Good News, then we are united on Earth and Heaven; this is the experience of Ascension. The mission is offered in the Gospel, to stand up against any form of evil, to speak a language of love and to offer spiritual, personal and physical healing to the sick through compassionate presence and empowering any negativity with His power. What mission I am called to do? Do I recognize the accompanying presence of Jesus in my witnessing life?

“I was taught to be a martyr,” are the words of Aleppo, an ISIS Jihadist. A few months ago in a fight between ISIS and the Syrian Army forces at the border, he was wounded severely by a gunshot and left to die in that desert land. Fr. Herman, a missionary, who passed by, found Aleppo and carried him for 26 kilometers to offer a Christian burial at their Catholic community center. To all their surprise, Aleppo was found with movements, and he was treated for his injurious; he responded, and the 32 yr old Jihadist wanted to be baptized and join the community sharing their mission. He said that all the killing he did was haunting him towards the gates of hell. He chose to love God’s call as a converted person. This compelling story is the mission to which all Christians are called. Fr. Herman demonstrated what it means to be a “Good Samaritan,” by taking the Gospel message of mission at all costs, ascending to the victory of compassionate mercy and forgiveness, being healing presence of Christ to the broken, wounded, lonely, marginalized, breathing the life of goodness, kindness, and love into the hearts of those in need.

When we look into the eyes of a fellow human being, we are called to see the face of the Christ, by whose death and Resurrection leads us to the lived Ascension experience to unite Earth and Heaven, giving others the love of God in the Kingdom He establishes on Earth through mission. Christ left a footprint of His right foot imbedded in a rock near Jerusalem, at the site of His Ascension into Heaven; this is located in the Chapel of the Ascension. Pilgrims may place their hands in Our Lord’s footprint, and engage the moment of Ascension for a few moments, pondering within, the words of the angel, Go into the whole world to proclaim the Good News.

Through faith, we may receive the blessing he gave the witnesses standing there, watching the glory of God receive His beloved Son, to be enthroned at His right hand, the King of Eucharistic Glory, so that all peoples may enthrone Him within their hearts, compelling us to live the mission of genuine love of others, God’s people.–Amen.