English Reflections

    The woman in the Proverb speaks about the personal gift. (Proverb 31:10-31.)  God has given us talents and individual gifts to lead a life on earth.  She was praised, because with her gifts she brought her husband happiness day by day, made clothes for her children, and reached out her hand to the poor. God expects us to put to maximum use even our small ordinary talents. Sometimes we fail to understand that our contribution can really affect the quality of life around us. Every single personal gift is important.  

          None of us should be like the man given one-talent in the parable who could not see that his talent was of value to God and humanity.  It is especially important to realize that our gifts, whether many, small or big, Jesus invites us to use them faithfully and whole heartedly.
Each of us receives God’s gifts in different measures; born into a different family, different circumstances but for a purpose. We are born on this earth to accomplish the mission, to recognize that gift and utilize it for the greater glory of God.  Sometimes we lose the focus of our gifts and start comparing our gifts to others enviously. However, we are encouraged to multiply our gifts rather than remain negative and hide our talents within ourselves.  The Lord who is the source of all gifts will return to ask for an account, like the master to his servants in the parable. (Mt. 25:15)   The man who goes on a journey abroad and returns after a longtime is an image of Christ who has journeyed to the Father and is expected to return again. (Mt. 25:14)

          I am so grateful to our parishioners who are engaged in sharing their God given gifts, talents, expertise in different fields, love, faith, and charity, with our community.  I am always grateful to all our Liturgical Ministers, Catechists, Parish Pastoral Council Members, Finance Committee Members, volunteers; and different prayer groups who meet virtually to strengthen the spiritual life of the community. Also, my gratitude abounds for your unfailing financial support of our parish. It does not go unrecognized.   God has given us many gifts and means to develop those gifts.  We give to God according to our ability and take according to our needs. God invests in us; in turn, we must invest our lives in God.  

           Jesus is inviting us toward a responsible lifestyle in which we carefully use, rather than bury in the ground, the talents we have been given to build a better world, a better parish community by lifting up the lost.  Let us invest our talents and make it double for the glory of God.
 

Fr. Joachim Lepcha

           This month of November is a special month for us. We started the month by celebrating the Feast of All Saints. The holy men and women who walked on this earth were like us, ordinary people.  They lived a life with great foresight, to be reflective and prayerful while they dealt with those facts of daily life as they relate to everlasting life. They were vigilant like those five virgins who kept on asking, “Do I have the extra oil of good works to nourish my lamp of faith?” They had carried an extra flask of oil. That few minutes of reflection paid off, for the bridegroom arrived late and they had enough oil. (Mt 25:4)

           On the second of November was another great day for all the departed brothers and sisters.  We had forty-nine parishioners from September 2019 to October 2020 who is journeying to the Lord to heaven. Thirty-nine of the deceased had relatives who participated in the Mass, lighting a candle in their loved ones’ memory. There were many more parishioners who participated in the Mass and remembered their love ones with prayer and devotion. Our departed brothers and sisters tasted death, but we all know our destination, we will all rise again after death!

           Jesus rose from the dead, thus promising us also life after death. “We believe that Jesus died and rose again.  And it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus. God will bring them with him” (Thess. 4:14) Heaven is our blessed home, for it is being with Christ.  We can never think of Heaven without Christ. Heaven without Christ is a day without the sun, feasting without food and seeing without light. “And if I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)

            We must live our lives now wisely in order to reach Heaven. We need wisdom to be wise. “By those who love her, she is readily seen and found by those who look for her.” (Wisdom 6:12) There is a famous saying, ‘if you lack knowledge, you go to school; if you lack wisdom, get on your knees.’  Wisdom is an affair of values, and hence wise people will deal with the facts of life as they relate to life eternal. This means wise people use foresight.  A Christian who uses foresight avoids evil by anticipating it and masked his or her roof before it rains.

             We need this foresight in order to be always ready to meet the Lord when He comes.  While His final call in death seems crucial, we must also be ready for His daily call.  A Christian who uses foresight will be reflective meaning, being prayerful, without allowing oneself to be burnt out by the frantic pursuit of earthly things.  Foresighted Christians while waiting for the Lord keeps always awake, so that he or she may sleep in His peace and awake in glory.
We are invited to be vigilant, foresighted, and prayerful and to do his good works.  It is not enough to have only a lamp without oil in it.  A prayerful Christian will move from prayer to work and from work to prayer.  We need to keep our lamp burning and carry extra oil all the time.
 

Fr. Joachim Lepcha

             This Sunday we celebrate the feast of All Saints.  We remember all those who have gone ahead of us to share in God’s eternal life through Christ to enjoy the reward of their extraordinary faith.  This feast is observed to teach us to honor Saints, imitating their lives by asking their intercession for us before Christ.  We honor the memory of countless, unknown, and un-canonized Saints who have no feast days. 

            This celebration, All Saints, also invite us to accept the challenge to become Saints.  Jesus exhorts us; “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt. 5:48).  Saint Augustine asked, “If he and she can become Saints, why can’t I?”  On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the Saints and not just talk the talk.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven” (Mt. 7:21).  Saint Paul reminds us that in God’s love, He has made us his children.  (1 John 3:1-3)   We are not only called God’s children but that is who we really are.  We have to realize our dignity and our purpose to be God’s children for all eternity with God in heaven.

             What is the essence of the Saints holiness? The essence is their life according to the Beatitudes as taught by Christ.  They receive the holiness by practicing and responding to the call of the Beatitudes. “To be poor in spirit, to be pure in heart, to be humble, to thirst after justice, to show mercy, to make peace, to accept suffering and sorrows for the name of Christ.” (Mt. 5:1-12)   It also includes that a life of holiness has to pass through trials and tribulations, even daily martyrdom.  Those who have persevered in living out the Beatitudes are in heaven now as Saints.  They are those, as the book of Revelation so visibly portrays, “Who survived the great period of trials and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:1)   They are true, “Children of God” on earth and now have “come to His light.” and “like Him.” (1 John 3:1-3)

            My sisters and brothers in Christ, we are called to become Saints.  The destination of Christian life is holiness.  God makes Saints out of sinners.  A Christian becomes a Saint, not because of the present but of his or her past.  Each of us can achieve holiness by practicing the virtues described by the Beatitudes.  Let us keep praying for saintliness and keep our hearts always open to God’s grace.  Saint Teresa of Avila says that we need to recharge our spiritual batteries every day by prayer.  Saint Teresa of Lisieux says that we convert every action into prayer, by offering to God His glory.  As we look at the very young Italian boy, Blessed Carlo Acutis, life is simple, ordinary, daily prayer, rosary, confession, charity, cheerfulness, helpfulness, daily Eucharist, and not  losing the heavenly sight while enjoying everyday life on earth.  He lived his short life with this saying, of John Mason, national best-selling author, “You are born an Original, Don’t Die a Copy.”  And His devotion and dedication to the Holy Eucharist set an example we can easily follow.   He often said, “the Eucharist is the highway to Heaven.” Now he is in fellowship with God and all the Saints.
 

Fr. Joachim Lepcha
 

                  I grew up in a poor family. I have experienced the hardship of life from my childhood, hunger, poverty, famine, and sickness; but nothing could defeat me because I had the richness of love and compassion from my family. They taught me to love passionately and to do everything with love and passion. One fine summer morning, I saw our neighbor’s wife sitting near our kitchen door, battered, and bruised, she was hungry and shivering with pain and fear. Two days after having a miscarriage she was working in the field.  I did not know that my mother brought her home to give shelter and to take care of her.  My parents took care of her for six (6) months. I resented her and showed my anger with tantrums because while she was in our home, I had to give up my bed to her and share a bed with my brother.  She was given the outmost care and comfort; she was even served a meal first then we were served whatever was leftover. She was taken care of so passionately that she regained her health completely and went home to take care of her own family. I did not understand anything back then I was just a little boy. As I grew up, I realized that the true message of this Sunday’s Gospel was practiced in my own family right before my eyes. The compassionate love of Christ to neighbor witnessed to me by my family have helped me to grow immensely in my vocation as a priest and I believe it sustains me to this day because I strive first to listen and to show compassion to those whom God puts in my path to serve.

                Compassionate God; God wants to remind His people of what they have gone through when they were in Egypt. They experienced being orphaned, being left out like widows, like strangers. God wants to teach them that it is hard when we are alienated from our own country. All people are your neighbors, including those in need, widows, who have no status, and orphans who were utterly alone in Egypt.  God loved them so passionately and he advised them to treat all people with respect and dignity, as He himself treated them when he led them out of Egypt.  Who is my neighbor? The book of Exodus 22:20-26 answers this question.  All people are your neighbors, including those most in need, those alien to  you or  your country; widows, who had no status in that day, and orphans, who were utterly alone, strangers who are defenseless. In other words, imitate God by doing unto others what God has done to you. Saint Paul gives a similar advice. “You imitated me by receiving the Word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit. Invite others to do the same.”

           Compassionate Jesus; Jesus expressed his passionate love for us with every drop of sweat and blood in the garden of Gethsemane. Every bit of sorrow and pain on the way of the Cross; and on the Cross was His ultimate example of His love. He loved us so passionately that he hung on the Cross and died a shameful death. A priest may repeatedly preach that God loves us and that we are to love God and our neighbor.  Some may ask, ‘why is the priest preaching churchly words, again and again?’ Nothing new about love, the same love, love, love, blah, blah, blah!!!  Yes, it is true, the same love story over and over, until it hits our heart to share in that compassionate love of Jesus.  

            If there is no passion in love, the marriage may die soon.  If a priest does not show his passionate love for God and Jesus, to the faithful, his vocation is in danger. If we do not show our passionate love for God, the Eucharist, and the community, we may end up not going to Church at all; and we may find the Eucharistic celebration a boring event. Still, just love alone is not enough; everyone should have passionate love in their hearts. If the gardener does not plant a seed with love that flower does not smile when it blooms. Lifting up our hearts for thirty seconds, we can send our adorations to God and loving compassionately then wells up within us and overflows to others, even our enemies.

 

Fr. Joachim lepcha

             One day an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi said, “Well, I bow down before Gandhi, but I kneel down only before Christ.” We all know that worship is due to God and that is why we come every week to the Sunday Mass. Good Christians, make good citizens. We are citizens of two worlds. We have to fulfill duties to both, Society and God.  “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.” (Mt. 22:21) We have got an obligation to God and to our country. If it conflicts, we must resolve it by remaining faithful to God.  As a coin bears the image of Caesar belongs to Caesar, so the human person created in the image of God belongs to God, our whole entire being, belongs to Him, therefore, He has the first claim over us before we give our allegiance to anything earthly. “Apart from all is nothing” (Is. 45:6) God is the source of good.
Saint Paul praised the converts Thessalonians for their fidelity to God and Christ, for their practice of theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. We are obliged to pay taxes, obey the just law, work for the welfare of all citizens; when we do so, we fulfill the duties to society by bringing peace, harmony, and livable communities, states, and country.  We must obey civil authorities, respect the justice of our country in order to live in peace and unity.
           We have the right to vote in this coming election; and yes, this right fortunately is without any pressure or by force. If we choose to vote, we should be praying and reflecting on the polices and issues that matters immensely to our future, our moral values, our religious practice, prosperity of our nation, peace, unity, harmony, and promoting the welfare of  all its citizens without violating God’s law.  This Gospel passage invites us to give ourselves 100% to God, not only 10% as a Sunday obligation.  “Give to God what is God’s.”  (Mt. 22:15-21)

            We are blessed to have wonderful parishioners who are totally committed to God in many ways; they are willing to share their fruits by participating in the “Together in Mission” and “Call to Renew” Campaigns and offering their time and talents as well as supporting our parish financially in this pandemic. They give 100% of themselves.  I have seen the sharing of those fruits by the increase of our online giving, and those who financially support our livestream Mass. We could not bring the Gospel to those unable to join us in person without your prayerful and financial support.  And today, we celebrate World Mission Sunday.  Next, we will be ready to support the universal suffering Church for evangelization and our own Immaculate Conception school, for we must not forget the education of our children, they are the future. 

            I admire your dynamic action and praise you with Saint Paul, saying, “We thank God, for you have shown your faith in action and worked for love.” (1 Thess. 1:3) Our dedicated parishioners express their gratitude to God every day, giving back to Him all they have received from Him without measure; they know that God is the giver of all gifts and it is our duty to give back to God what belongs to God.

           During this difficult time our parish is surviving and somehow going forward with financial ups and downs. I know God is with us and we will make it through all the challenges with His mighty hands. I am grateful and thankful to all who actively participate on weekdays and weekend Masses and who are always there to dedicate their time and talents for the greater glory of God. Thank you very much!
 

Fr. Joachim Lepcha

               God provides for all people, friend, and foe alike. On the mountain described in Isaiah (25:6-10) God’s provident love is gracious and unconditional. The King in the Gospel of Matthew (22:1-10) sent his servants out to “gather together all as many as they found, both good and bad and the wedding hall was filled with guests,” after those first invited rejected his invitation. Then when the King came out, he noticed someone not wearing a wedding garment and he “cast him out.”  All are invited, but our wedding garment entails clothing ourselves with gratitude, humility, and love, like Saint Paul in the Letter to the Philippians. (Phil.4:12-14) Saint Paul learned how to respond with humility and gratitude to life’s entire situation.  Jesus reminds us to clothe ourselves with gratitude for God’s generosity and mercy when we go to the Banquet.
 
             From the moment of our Baptism we have received the white garment as our wedding garment; in fact, we have been invited to the Heavenly Banquet, with the sanctifying grace of the wedding garment.  We are invited to salvation by transforming daily through the grace of God to be holy.  Every day we are invited to make our wedding garment spotless by avoiding pride, worldly charms, wealth, power, and worldly pleasure.  We are invited to be faithful to Jesus, showing witness by loving our neighbor, forgiving one another; and preaching and teaching about Jesus.

              We may not all be able to attend the Holy Mass during this pandemic, our wedding banquet is our Holy Mass. Though all the church doors are closed, we have outdoor Masses, following all the protocols and guidelines to maintain healthy and safe congregations.  Many parishioners participate in the Mass joyfully.

               Our banquet hall may not fill up.  Even before the pandemic, our church was never filled up. Does not God invite us there like in the parable? Do we feel a strong connection with our service, are we glad to be invited to this Banquet Hall?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church no. (1402-1405) teaches us that the Eucharist is the Foretaste of the Messianic Banquet.

               God incarnate, Jesus himself waits for us in his house of worship. God invites us to partake in this supreme and sumptuous banquet of His son’s Body and Blood, the nourishment of our souls.  Since it is the source of all graces, prayer of the prayers, fount, and source of all spiritual food, we are invited to approach with our proper wedding garment. This means proper dress, heart and mind cleansed by the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It means we need to receive the Communion in a proper way, to be in a state of grace, also sanctifying grace, given at our Baptism. Our wedding garment is made of grace, justice, and holiness.  This Banquet consists of communion with one other, friendship, reconciliation, joy, sharing and being together in the name of Jesus.  

                In the parable (Mt.7:13-24) the guest has taken up the King’s generous invitation, but failing to dress appropriately, he has demonstrated an overly casual attitude, treating the event as if it was simply a matter of a ‘get-together’ an insult to the generosity of the king.  It is not something we should take for granted.  Each time we are invited to the Banquet, we should take it as if we are receiving Jesus for the very first time in our life.  Just roll back to the memory of your First Holy Communion Mass!
 

Fr. Joachim Lepcha

             A British Philosopher, and writer said, “Without civic morality, communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.” Today we find every trend of moral degradation prevailing in our society and in our community. What is moral and immoral is still debated by many.  Everything is like one packet of combo food, in the packet there are different foods but at the end, after consuming all, one would realize there was no difference in the taste.  I would say for us Christians; a healthy moral life must be based on Christ’s teachings. You can no more invent a new morality than to place a new sun in the sky.   If no Christian morality exists, the “divine spark” will not be seen. Today we face a deep darkness of confusion because we have failed to live up to that morality that Jesus has handed us.

            Prophet Ezekiel says, “He who has chosen to renounce all his sin shall certainly live.” God assures us that if we change our way of life then His grace will be upon us; and If we respond to His call, His amazing grace will be available to us all the time.  Even when life seems to be hanging on by a mere thread, the Lord of life holds out hope.

              To keep up our morality, we need to take our responsibility.  God will never excuse us from our duty, His fairness consists in holding us responsible for the life we have chosen rather than the one we have forsaken. We must check our initial reaction to the call of God, as did the first son in this Sunday’s Gospel.  He first said, ‘no’ to his father’s call, but “afterwards thought better of it and went” (Mt 21:29.)  We have got the responsibility to develop a reflective attitude to life, to rethink and make the right choice with regards to our moral life.  We must strive to translate our noble promises into noble performances, not like the second son who said, “Yes” to his father, but “did not go.”

              Saint Paul reminds us of our moral duty by instructing, “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking not for his own interests, but also for those of others. Saint Paul writes this letter to remind them not to bring division in the community, exacerbated by outside oppositions. Same mind, same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Are the elements of unity!

              Christ united himself with humanity even to the Cross, emptying himself, no holding back. Yes, means yes to the point of considering the other person’s interest first.  Day by day our world seems to be reclining towards individualism, materialism, and consumerism.  But still, the moral teaching of Jesus is the foundation of human life and its origin.
 

Fr. Joachim Lepcha

                     As the smoky and unhealthy air prevailed all over our city and everyone was staying at home with mask on, I was praying in the church every day and reflecting on the beautiful saying of Cardinal Newman; “God has committed some work to me which He has not committed to any other.  I have my mission. I will trust Him.  He does nothing in vain.  He may prolong my life; He may shorten it; He knows what He is about.  O my God.  I will put myself without reserve in thy hands.”  Today we are all asked to commit ourselves totally to His will and we will experience in return His abundant and wonderful gift of grace. That same commitment, Saint Paul expressed in his letter to the Philippians (1:20) as he commits himself to the Lord. “Christ will be glorified in my body, whether by my life or by my death.”

                   One of the missions in our lives is to work in the vineyard of God; that is to become a coworker in His kingdom on earth and receive exactly what is right from a God who is so generous and lavish.  One of the missions entrusted to us is to forgive those who trespass against us. Forgiveness not only brings joy to the sinner but also a wonderful grace of God in oneself. “Let them turn to the Lord to find mercy, to our God, who is generous in forgiving.” (Is. 55:7) When we have a mission to serve and give more than is necessary, then God will multiply like He did at the wedding at Cana; bread for the crowd; and He pays a day’s wage even to those laborers who came to work at the eleventh hour (Mt. 20:9)

                     In God’s eyes, we are equal, envy should have no place in our lives. We have been late so many times to respond to God to work in His field.  Many a times we have been lazy, stubborn, and stone hearted to listen to His call and we were late; yet in His generosity, we have been blessed with others who are constantly working in His field. He counts our efforts and change of heart; he does not count our credit.  This parable of the vineyard illustrates very well our theology of grace and mercy. When we express our gratitude to God in our daily lives by sharing our grace, mercy to others, our daily ministry of serving our family, our parish, He will show us his care by giving us his grace and eternal salvation.  Our call to God’s vineyard is a gift from Him for which we can never be sufficiently thankful.

                 During this difficult time, we are asked to be grateful to God by avoiding sins, by rendering loving service to others, sharing our blessings especially to our parish community, and constant prayer.  Even sometimes we may have doubts in God’s justice, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” (Is. 55:8)

                 “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  (Mt. 5:45) Coming to work for a whole day or the end of the day, it is His choice to pay.  Regardless of the farmer’s disposition toward God, God gives sunshine and rain to all the farmers in equal portion. When God gives good sunshine and good rain to an evil farmer, it is an example of God loving His enemies. God makes no distinction between the evil and the righteous in this instance—He gives good gifts to both.

Fr. Joachim Lepcha

                  In the first reading, Ben Sirach offers his critical assessment of the costs of wrath and anger. It causes havoc on human relationships; it has devastating consequences on one’s relationship with God. It means, we as human beings cannot handle the vengeance. We cannot even handle love; forget about vengeance! That is why, God says, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” (Rom 12:19) “The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance.” (Sirach 28:1) Instead, “If you forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.” (Sirach 28:2)

                   In the Gospel of Mathew (5:43-44,) Peter presents Jesus with a question about limited forgiveness. The seven and seventy-seven times may be allusions to Genesis 4: 24, but in the Old Testament Reading, Cain is avenged seven times and his son Lamech’s vengeance is symbolically limitless (seventy-seven). Yes, it is true in saying, “Reconciliation is a gift we give to someone else, but forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves.” It takes more energy to hold on to hurt than it does to try and be free of it. Wrath and anger will always take a lot of energy and often only hurt us. There is a famous proverb, “If you want to kill someone, dig two graves, one for the person whom you want to kill and one for yourself.”  If we forgive and let go of all these negative hurts and feelings, it will open us up to experience the forgiveness and peace that God has already offered us and it also opens the door to future reconciliation.

                  Vengeance may seem sweet at the time, but it only opens the door to the Lord’s vengeance.  Not because God is vengeful, but because our hands are so full, they cannot receive the kindness of our merciful God. Open your hands and your heart! Receive the mercy of God and do unto others as God does to us.

                  Jesus asks to us to love our enemies. The heart of Christianity is love, but the power of love is in forgiveness. The Lord asks us to forgive seventy times seven (Mt 18:22) that is to be always ready to forgive. Though forgiveness is a difficult thing to do, it warms the heart and cools the sting.   Unforgiving is self-destructive. Everyone needs forgiveness because one way other, knowingly, or unknowingly we might have offended another.  A mean and revengeful disposition shuts out God’s forgiveness and the wrath of God is kindled against the hard and relentless.

                  There are many ways that we can exercise mercy and forgiveness. We must have time to cool down our anger with rational manner. Let us view all our hurts and offences from God’s point of view. God uses hurts to improve our character, for it is the best teacher to develop our human maturity and spiritual effectiveness. We must sit down and take everything to prayer, relating everything to God in His presence, recalling how much and how often He has forgiven us.  Regardless of the wounds and hurts we may have inflicted on others, God forgives us. That is why we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who sinned against us.”
 

Fr. Joachim Lepcha