Fr. Nivin's Homily Blog

 “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.”  What is the only one thing needed? In the first reading, God visited Abraham in the heat of the day. Abraham saw three men approaching his tent and sensed something special about them. In normal circumstances, Abraham simply could have acknowledged them and gone on with his work, but he did not. He dropped his work, ran to them, bowed before them, presented himself at their service, and got his household to prepare a good meal for them. He paid attention to their needs, and to what they had to tell him. In the Gospel, Jesus visits His dear friends Martha and Mary. Martha busies herself to prepare food to serve her special guest. While Mary chooses to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him. Mary is paying full attention to Jesus and enjoying His presence, while Martha is overwhelmed with perfecting her tasks, and then complains, in an attempt for Jesus to deny attention to Ma...

“The children of Israel set out from Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting the little ones.”  Can you imagine the scenario? About 600,000 men, not even counting the children, and not counting the women also. If we include everyone, we’re talking about at least over 1.5 million people leaving Egypt all at once. That’s not a small caravan. That’s an entire nation on the move! And leading them was just one man, Moses. What is even more remarkable is that Moses had a speech impediment. We can better understand now why he was reluctant at first, he was not confident, he did not think he had the ability, the qualities to be a leader, to represent God to save the whole Hebrew nation. And yet, God chose him, and he obeyed. And yet, all 1.5 million people or more, trusted him and followed him. God’s hand was working through an unqualified but obedient servant. Today, with advanced communication tools and highly efficient technology, leading a traditional ...

 “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.”  A few months ago, one member from Knights of Columbus shared a story of his recent experience with me: It was just before the Easter Vigil mass, he was handing out candles to parishioners coming for the procession. Without noticing it at first, he handed out a candle which was cracked. When he realized it, immediately he apologized, saying, “Sorry, this one is broken.” Without much hesitation, the woman smiled and replied, “Aren’t we all broken?” So true. We are all broken in some way, none of us have a perfect life. Whether it is emotional, physical, psychological or spiritual, every one of us would have experienced some setback, pain or suffering which were never fully healed, not resolved, not yet gone away. It broke us and stayed on in our lives. Finally, our own sins and sinfulness are our biggest brokenness. These break through our s...

 “Then his brothers proceeded to fling themselves down before him and said, ‘Let us be your slaves!’”.  Joseph’s brothers were fearful that Joseph would seek vengeance on them for the evil they did to him decades ago, now that their father Jacob had died. Decades ago, Joseph had a dream in which he saw his brothers’ bundles of sheaves bow down to his own bundle of sheaf, symbolizing their submission to his authority and power. Naturally, the brothers, who were already jealous of the special favor Joseph received from their father, were filled with resentment hearing about that dream. They plotted to kill him but finally sold him away as a slave. Now that they needed his help and protection, they were offering themselves as his slaves. Joseph’s dream came true, it was a vision of the future, it was prophetic. But Joseph assured them: “Have no fear.  Can I take the place of God? Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the surviva...

 “You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  This promise is very important to me. Very often when I am expecting to a difficult conversation, or speaking to someone who disagrees with me, I would remember this promise and anticipate that the Holy Spirit would give me the right words. Yet so many times, it is only after the conversations are over that my mind gets flooded with bright answers and intelligent arguments. Sometimes when people ask me questions about the faith, I would know the answers but often struggle to express it convincingly, and then the perfect words would come to me after they have left. I wonder to myself, “Why didn’t I say that earlier?” and I ask the Holy Spirit, “Where were you?”  Maybe because I was too anxious and tried too hard to sound impressive, thus I was deaf to the Holy Spirit. But Jesus’ promise holds up if we trust Him. Just look at the Apo...

 Life on earth has come to a peaceful end for our beloved brother Bill Wolfe, but his joy and passion for living continues to eternity, the reward promised for his faith. Here at St. Ambrose Cathedral, was where Bill used to attend Sunday Mass faithfully. He was nourished with the holy Body and Blood of Christ, the true food, true drink of life. While he won’t be worshiping here physically with us anymore, I am sure he will continue to give praise and thanks to God spiritually with us, with all the angels and saints, at every Mass we celebrate here. And we hold on to the promise that we will meet each other face to face again, in the glory of heaven. Meanwhile, all of us who know and love Bill will miss his physical presence dearly. I noticed something amazing about Bill. Anyone who got to meet him, even just once, will not forget him. He had a way of making people feel warm, welcomed, heard, and appreciated. He was a people-person: joyful, witty, and full of good humor. I remember...

 “When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled.”  Jacob was quite a character, wrestling with the angel of God all through the night. Surprisingly, the angel ‘could not prevail over him’. Jacob must have been stubborn and strong to be able to persist in the battle against the divine. But this incident is not just about physical or mental wrestling, it is symbolic of the inner struggles of life, the restlessness of the soul. We all wrestle with something: our past, our present, our fears, our desires, our boundaries, our free will. Like Jacob, we fight, sometimes with others, sometimes with ourselves, sometimes with God. And God welcomes us to fight it out with Him. He knows we need it. Now why did the angel wait till the morning to strike Jacob’s hip? He could have done it at the beginning and ended the fight quickly. But God allowed Jacob to wrestle all night, until dawn. Perhaps...

“Early the next morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on top of it. He called the site Bethel, whereas the former name of the town had been Luz.”  Jacob had a holy dream of seeing angels entering heaven from where he lay asleep, and with that, Luz was renamed Bethel, and Bethel was consecrated, set apart as a holy place, a ‘House of God’, a sacred site. From that moment on, Luz disappeared, and Bethel would be remembered forever. Luz was left in the past; Bethel was consecrated for the future. Jacob’s pouring of oil on the stone marks the first ever act of consecration recorded in the Old Testament. That act of consecration changed the identity of the place, with a new name and new future. That first anointing continues as a practice and tradition in the life of the Church till today. When we consecrate a new altar, we anoint it with sacred chrism, making five crosses on it representing and remembering the five wo...

“Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.” With that sentence, sealed the blessing Jacob received from his father Issac, through cheating. His mother Rebekah had planned the evil plot to steal the blessing for her precious son Jacob. And poor Esau, who was supposedly the rightful beneficiary, was still out in the forest, trying to hunt for the best animal to bring to his father, unaware of the happenings at home. Because of this, for a long time, I personally did not like Jacob. And Rebekah, I initially admired her virtues and character, until she married Isaac. Thereafter, she changed. She became cunning, dishonest and evil. Salvation history began in Genesis 12, with the call of Abraham. By the time we reached chapter 27, we would have seen many troubles, grave injustices, sinful acts among God’s chosen people, starting with the first generation. Sarah had insisted that Abraham have a child with Hagar, after which she grew jealous and ill-treated Hagar. Afte...

 “Flee for your life! Don’t look back or stop anywhere on the plain.” Sodom was about to be totally destroyed, and the angel of the Lord came to save Lot and his family. But Lot hesitated. Why? Because all his property, his possessions, his wealth, his pleasurable and comfortable life were left behind and would be destroyed. Lot was very attached to all those material things. They were his life. We recall in the earlier chapters of Genesis, when Lot and Abraham divided the lands, Lot chose the best portion for himself, it was the fertile land near Sodom. He wanted to be wealthy and prosperous. Now, everything he had built had to be abandoned; he had to detach and let go. Detachment is painful. This reminds me of a real-life story I heard recently. A businessman who left India years ago and went to Kuwait. Through much hard work there, he finally built a profitable and successful crude oil company with many offices in major cities around the world. But when the Kuwait War broke out,...

 From the first reading, Peter said: “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.” From the second reading, Paul said: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.” Peter and Paul. Distinct characters but one heart and mind. Different persons but together in mission. Two apostles but one Lord and Master. Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the two pillars of the Catholic Church, together they make up the foundation of our Catholic teaching. Among the many disciples of the Lord, we know more about Peter and Paul, thanks to St. Luke, who recorded their stories and events in the Acts of the Apostles. The first half of the book was focused on Peter, the other half on Paul. When we look closely at them, we immediately see many differences, but why does the Church celebrate them together on the same feast ...

 “As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep.” Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. And yet, if we look closely at the readings, we don’t see any explicit reference to the heart of Jesus. However, in the second reading, we read about the love of God through Jesus and in the first reading and Gospel, we are given a clear description of the love of a good shepherd for his own sheep. The good shepherd in these texts refer to Jesus, so what we celebrate today, is the loving, self-giving heart of Jesus, our good and true shepherd. We celebrate His unwavering protection, dedicated care and sacrificial love for us, His flock. Sheep are vulnerable, they do not have any sense of direction, totally cannot protect themselves or each other, but quite amazingly, they respond to the voice and instructions of their shepherd. They cannot survive on their own, they need their shepherd. So, the good shepherd w...

 “What, then, will this child be?” One of the greatest joys of my ministry as a priest is baptizing and welcoming new Catholics, whether adults, youth, young children or babies. At St. Ambrose, I have witnessed an overwhelming number of baptisms compared to funerals. Last year, we had over 70 baptisms, only 8 funerals. Thanks be to God! In my last four years here, I have had the privilege of baptizing at least 150 babies. Every baptism is a celebration of new life in Christ, a rebirth, a new creation. And very often, shortly after a child is born, families would invite me either to the hospital, or once they get home, to pray for, to bless or simply to be present with them as they rejoice in the arrival of their newborn. The birth of a child is a profound sign of a greater force at work.  As I gaze at these beautiful little bundles of new life, like the people at the birth of John the Baptist, I too wonder: What will this child be? How will God work through this life? When I w...

“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” Some of us may feel that most times we give goodness but receive trouble. We give friendship but receive enmity. We give love but receive rejection. Life does not seem fair, does it? But let’s be honest, sometimes we do receive much better than what we give, even undeserving and unworthy. So, it probably evens out at the end, to our advantage. Especially when we work it out with God. Our first reading is from Genesis chapter 12, when the story of salvation began. The eleven chapters before this are considered pre-history, there was no revelation from God yet. And then came Abram. He heard a voice, felt it was a divine calling, and he trusted it. It was a call that went beyond his understanding and control, yet he obeyed and followed. Now named Abraham, he gave his word to trust and obey God, whom he had never known before. What was the measure he received in return? Nearly 4,000 years later, his story continues to be tol...

 “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’” This sentence in today’s first reading is one of the most well-known and quoted lines in the New Testament. There are many interpretations about what could be the “thorn in the flesh” which St. Paul referred to and asked for the Lord to remove for him. No one knows for sure, and no one needs to know exactly. What we do know is that it was something Paul believed the “angel of Satan” was sent to torment him. It was so bad for him that he wished and prayed for the Lord to take away from him. But Jesus did no, and told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Jesus is telling us the same: “My grace is sufficient for you.” Are you struggling terribly? Do you feel greatly tormented? Are you facing huge troubles? Do you feel like there is no way out? If you are crying out to the Lord like St. Paul, know that you are not alone. God’s silence is not absence. He is with y...

“And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.” Did you follow closely today’s first reading? Could you empathize with the hardships St. Paul had endured in his ministry? He lamented: “Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.” And that’s not even half the list! But here’s something more amazing: Despite the many troubles Paul suffered, he never gave up. He didn’t quit. He kept preaching the Gospel, he continued converting people and building the Church. He was faithful till the end, till he was beheaded in Rome. Why did he have to suffer so much hardship? Why didn’t God intervene and block off all those troubles? Wouldn’t the mission be more efficient and reap greater results if his mission was smooth sailing and trouble-free? Maybe, maybe not. The fact is, the church did grow exponentially during those times when there were ext...

 “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” We live in a world of performance, we work to be seen and heard, to be recognized and applauded. With the explosive growth and popularity of social media, modesty has nearly disappeared. Many have taken to exposing every aspect of their personal lives, it is now so convenient and easy to share, like, and repost every little thing for the world to see. It is not a bad thing to share openly and freely with friends, especially the good moments, the joyful events, the memorable occasions. And within the Church, it is helpful to keep the community connected and informed, to broadcast and share all the good that is done, so that we can together praise and thank God for His blessings. Ahhh, here is the problem... Do we do good so that we can praise God, or do we do good so that others can praise us? Do we sometimes work hard to show that we are the most active, generous, or popular church in town? Are we offend...

“Not to receive the grace of God in vain.” Today’s first reading began with a stern warning. Are we receiving the grace of God in vain? Do we got to confession, yet continue to live in habitual sin and disobedience to God’s will? Christian living is a life in and of grace. It is a life of grace, because from the moment of our baptism, followed through with the other sacraments, God pours out His grace to us. But the full effect of His grace requires our cooperation. If we take it for granted, are non-responsive or even ignorant, if we do not actively nurture it, God’s grace would be fruitless, and futile in our life. Imagine pouring water to a cup with a closed lid, nothing gets filled, the cup remains empty. Think of baptism. At a child’s baptism, the parents and godparents profess the faith on the child’s behalf. They promise to raise the child according to the Catholic faith. If they fail to live that promise, if they do not bring the child to Mass, do not pray with the child, neith...

Today’s second reading ends with this powerful phrase: “Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Today we celebrate two beautiful events: the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and Father’s Day. So, happy Father’s Day to all our fathers, grandfathers, fathers-to-be and godfathers! My siblings and I are incredibly blessed to have had a good Christian father who fulfilled his duties both as a father and as a Catholic. My papa was a very quiet, resilient, yet very gentle person. He loved and protected all his seven children, physically, emotionally, mentally and especially spiritually. He taught us the faith and was a great model of the traditions. He made sure we never missed Sunday Mass and took us regularly to Confession. I was very much a “dad’s boy”, working with him daily on the farm, taking care of the animals together with him. He didn’t worry much about school grades, but he was very firm and strict with us re...

 “The love of Christ impels us.” Have you ever observed someone who was madly in love? I know of a young man whose mother always complained that he was sloppy and unkempt, looked like a mess and smelled like a dead rat! He was not interested in anything but was always slouched over his computer games when he was off work. He wore the same dirty shirts and just could not be bothered by the world. Then one day, she noticed he took a bath, shaved clean, brushed his hair neat, wore a crisp ironed shirt, sprayed perfume and asked her excitedly where the best place for pasta was. He was a changed man! And what had that power to move him from the valley to the mountain top? Yes, love! Love is powerful. When we love someone, we are willing to go beyond our limits, step out of our comfort zone, fly to the moon and back, just to please, just to satisfy, just to enrich the relationship. We go more than the extra mile. We might even be willing to die, be it a painful death, to go to hell and c...

 “So death is at work in us, but life in you.” This phrase from today’s first reading truly struck me powerfully. It is deep, profound, and it captures the essence of what it means to be on Christ’s mission. If we really observe the way the apostles lived, or study how the saints chose to live, literally, they chose death. Like their Master, like the life of Jesus Christ, who chose death for Himself, so that all of us may live. This truth is in the cross. As a priest, if I die to myself and my selfish desires every day, my parish life and my mission for Christ will thrive. A father or a mother who sacrifices their own comfort and convenience for the good of their children will see them bloom and grow positively. John 12:24, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” This fruit is a fruit in the life of Christ. So, death is at work in us, but life is in Christ. The love we receive in the Eucharist...

 “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Would salt ever lose its taste? From what I understand, the answer is no, not in its pure form. Salt in its pure form, is sodium chloride, and it is very stable, it cannot lose its taste, not even for over a hundred years, it will still maintain its saltiness. So why did Jesus use this salt analogy? What did Jesus mean by “salt losing its taste”? I have come across many interpretations. Some say that salt in this example by Jesus, is referring to our faith, others say it is our love, or our zeal. They are all good perspectives to help us understand what Jesus meant. A Christian without faith, without love, without passion for God, is in a grave spiritual danger of losing his real essence, the purpose of his being and existence. Jesus was warning His disciples: if they lose the mission of their faith, they will lo...

 “All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” What a beautiful scene! Imagine if we walk into St. Ambrose Church and see everyone sitting close together as one big family, devoted in prayer as one people, with the Mother of Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary among us, leading us. The unity, the faith, the togetherness are simply beautiful and inspirational. That was the scene we just read in our first reading. And upon the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Church was born. On that first day of the Church’s birth, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was there. And that tells us something profound: the Church was born with a mother. Not just any mother, but the mother of Christ, who is the head of the Church, naturally she is the mother of the same Church, the body of Christ,. Mary is our mother, not just individually, personally, but together, as a Church. What does a mother do? Many of you know that today is my b...

 "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."  Happy Feast of Pentecost! Today, we conclude the joyful fifty days of the Easter season and enter again into Ordinary Time after  Pentecost, the feast of fire, power, divine breath,  and popularly celebrated as the birthday of the Church through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Fifty days after rising from the dead, Jesus fulfills His promise that God the Father will send the advocate, the Holy Spirit to be His disciples. The Holy Spirit is poured out onto the Church, showering her with powerful spiritual gifts.  And what is the first fruit of this Spirit? Forgiveness. The power to forgive, to remove sin, in Jesus’ name, is given to the church. On the cross, Jesus exercised this power by forgiving His murderers and implored His Father’s mercy on the same. Forgiveness is the foundation of the Christian life. Without forgiveness, the burden of sin will ...