God Needs Our Hands

At the end of World War II a group of soldiers offered to help the people of a destroyed village in any way they could. But instead of asking for food, money, or farm equipment, the townsmen asked for help in restoring a statue. For years their proudest possession had been a statue of Christ in their own town square. Now it lay shattered into many pieces. Could the soldiers help put it together again? It was a difficult task, chips and pieces lay all over the square. Finally the statue was repaired except for two missing parts that the soldiers could not find. Finished, they covered the statue with a silken parachute, so that it could be unveiled in a ceremony before the townspeople, even though it was incomplete. On the occasion the mayor of the town gave a speech and pulled the cord of the silken drape... It dropped from the statue, showing a Christ without hands. At first the townspeople were shocked. Then they looked down at a sign which the soldiers had put at the feet of the statue. It said: "I have no hands. Won't you please lend me yours?"

Hi, friends today we know Jesus is not with us physically as He was with His Apostles. He needs our HAND, so are you ready to Lend your HANDS to Him, to serve the poor and needy? Remember Jesus said,   "Whenever you did something for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me." Matthew 25:40

Tongues

The king made a banquet and ordered his clever slave to serve the best food that money could buy. The main food at the meal was tongue... all kinds of tongue cooked in all kinds of ways. All the side dishes and even dessert were also tongue... When the king objected, the slave said: "My Lord, what excels the tongue? It is the channel of wisdom and learning. By it we make speeches and carry out business. By it great personas are made known. With our tongue we speak even to God.. King, there is nothing equal to the tongue." The king all the guests were astounded to hear all this wit and wisdom come from the slave.

 The next day the king threw another banquet. The same guests came back. This time the king ordered the slave to serve the worst kind of meat he could find. Again, he served tongue - and only tongue. When the king began to scold the slave over this, he answered: "My Lord, can there be anything worse than the tongue? Treasons, deaths, violence, injustices, fraud, murder, wars - all are debated and decided by the tongue. The tongue ruins empires and countries, peoples and families. What is worse than the tongue?"

Dear friends, what kind of tongue do you have? What kind of comments do we make? Is it constructive or destructive? When would have the slave served your tongue? 

Bible for Illiterates

Four clergymen were discussing the merits of the various translations of the Bible. On liked the King James version because of its simple, beautiful language. Another liked the American Standard version best because it comes closer to the original Hebrew and Greed. The third liked Moffatt's translation best because of its up-to-date words. The fourth clergyman was silent. When asked to express his opinion, he replied: "I like my mother's translation best."

The other three expressed surprise and wanted to know what he meant. "Well," he explained, "my mother translated the Bible into her everyday life, and it was the most convincing translation I ever saw." 

Dear friends it is not enough that we read Bible or we express our ideas from it. We need to live the Bible in our everyday life. We need to be walking Bible like Jesus. Bible is read in each action of a christian. Bible is shared when we share our life and our time according to the values we read in the Bible. Let us not only comment on the different people's version but let us become BIBLE's for others and especially illetrates.

Forgiveness of Sins

A missionary on one of the islands was sitting in his cool seaside hut one day when one of the village women came in, carrying a handful of dripping sand she had just picked up off the beach. "Do you know what this is?" she asked. "It looks like sand," said the missionary. "Do you know why I brought it here?" she asked. "No. I can't imagine why," the padre answered. "Well, these are my sins," the women explained. "My sins are as countless as the sands of the sea. How can I ever obtain forgiveness for all of them?" "You got that sand down by the shore, didn't you?" said the missionary. "Well, take it back there, and pile it up into a heaping mound of sand at the water's edge. Then you sit back and watch the tide come in and slowly wash away the pile altogether. That is how God's forgiveness works."...

Dear friends, Our God is a merciful God. He is always ready to forgive us of our sins. Only we need to approach Him and show our repentant and contrite heart. He is always ready to receive us no matter how sinful we are. In Isaiah 1:18 God says to the people: "Now, let's settle this matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool." 

Education

An Arab sheik was getting along in years and he felt that it was time to name one of his sons his successor. He had three sons, who were triplets. He loved them all equally and did not know which of them to choose as a successor. So he sent them off to a distant land and promised that the one who would come back with the most useful learning would get the birthright. The three went off to distant lands; attended universities and visited exotic places. The first brother invented magic glasses with which he could see any place he wished to see on earth. The second perfected a magic carpet on which he sat and zoomed to any part of the earth in five minutes. The third son invented a medicine that could cure any sickness. After some years the three came together for a birthday party and explained what they had found. The first son looked through his magic glasses and saw his father dying. The second invited the other two to hop onto his magic carpet and within five minutes they were at their father's side. There the third son took out his magic medicine and cured his father at once. Now the sheik was more confused than ever, since it took the work of all three of them to save his life....

That is the story of Christian education. It needs three places of schooling: the home, the church and the classroom. If one of them is lacking, the other two won't work. It is the same with the Trinity too, Father, Son and Holy Spirit plays an important role in every Christians life. Though three but ONE God.  

Believing in People

A wealthy businessman in a small town had signs printed and placed all over the town. They stated that if any person in the town who owed debts, would come to his office on a certain day between nine and twelve in the morning, he would pay those debts. Naturally, that promise was the talk of the town. But very few believed it. They thought there was a catch somewhere. The day came. The business man sat in his office at nine. Bu ten, no one had come. At eleven, a man was seen walking up and down outside, occasionally looking up at the office door. Finally he seemed to take courage and open it. He put his head in and asked, "Is it true that you will pay any person's debt?""That's right," the rich man replied. "Are you in debt?" "I certainly am," the caller answered. "Do you have along the bills and statements to prove it?" The visitor produced the documents and the business man wrote out a check covering all of them. Before twelve o'clock, two other men came and had their debts paid. People outside could not believe it. But now there was no time left to have their bills paid.

If people don't believe in the goodness of man, how can they believe in the goodness of God?  Today let's believe in the deeds of the people around us and trust them.

God Hidden in People

Once God promised an elderly lady that he would visit her that day. So she got ready... She scrubbed and cleaned and polished and dusted and put everything in order. Then she sat down and waited for God to come. Suddenly someone knocked. She raced to the door and quickly pulled it open and what did she see but just a poor beggar standing outside. "No, not today," the lady said, "for heaven's sake get along with you... I am waiting for God to come any minute now... I can't be bothered with you." The beggar left as hungry as he had come. A bit later there was another knock. The lady opened the door even faster than before. A poor old man stood there. "Sorry," said the lady, "I can't take care of you today." With that she slammed the door in his face. Quite a bit later someone again knocked at the door. Again it was a ragged hungry beggar. She sent him off empty-handed and sat down to wait. Evening came on and still there was no sign of God. Finally she went to bed with a heavy heart. She dreamt that the good Lord had come to her and said, "I came to you three times today and all three times you threw me out."

There is an old custom in the monasteries of Europe. All guests, all people coming to the door, are treated well, because they believe in the old saying: "When a guest comes, Christ comes." 

Dear friends, God is also gonna visit us today in our lives. Let us not be like the lady who wanted God to meet her in a Godly form. God is present in all human being. Today as we meet people around in our parish, community, offices, schools and colleges let's meet God in them. Let's seize the day.