Fr. Nivin's Homily Blog

“But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.” This month in Word Among Us, Fr. Mike Schmitz reflects on the life of Fr. Walter Ciszek, a Jesuit priest who went secretly to Russia to preach the Gospel. Religion was forbidden there, and people were so afraid that many would not even speak to a priest. Later he was arrested and spent many years in Soviet prisons and Siberian labor camps. What touched me most was not only his suffering, but his honesty. Fr. Walter admitted that there were moments he felt useless. He thought his life had no meaning because nobody wanted to hear about God. Imagine being a priest and feeling that your ministry is accomplishing nothing. Reading his story really humbled me. Many times I complain to God about small difficulties, disappointments, stress, or moments when things do not go the way I want. But Fr. Walter endured loneliness, fear, torture, and uncertainty for years. Y...

 “Such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.” What a powerful statement from St. Paul. He may be chained, imprisoned, and treated like a criminal, yet he continued to preach the Gospel, because the Word of God can never be imprisoned, it is free forever. From the very beginning, God created the whole universe by speaking forth His word. He said, “Let there be light,” and light came into being. By His word, all creation came into existence. The same word that spoke to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and the prophets continues to speak to us today, guiding, challenging, and inspiring us. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us: “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God is not merely ancient text; it is alive...

 “Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.” This warning from St. Peter is important for our salvation. There is no doubt that all of us gathered here today, even if we are still struggling in their faith, within our hearts there is a deep longing for holiness. We want to grow to become more like Jesus. We want to be ready to meet him face to face and stand before God without spot or blemish, truly pure and without sin. In the past two months, I have had two encounters that deeply impacted me. The first was in a hospital emergency room. I had gone there to anoint a parishioner who was brought there. And then there was an elderly man talking to everyone around him loudly. When he saw me, he came over and said, “I need a blessing.” I said, “Of course.” But almost immediately he changed his mind and said, “No, I’m okay. I’ll pass this time.” The second encounter happened as I was just leaving a restaurant afte...

 “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue.” Many of us, including myself, would be happy if we could just live every day without committing any serious sin. And to be able to just live out the basic life of a faithful – pray daily and receive the sacraments regularly – that should be enough and would be good with God. But St. Peter is challenging us to grow, go beyond the minimum, he says: “Supplement your faith with virtue.”  Faith, like health, cannot be stagnant. The basic daily meals may not be enough to keep us healthy and strong enough to meet growing needs, we may need supplements to add nourishment and nutrients. Faith too needs to grow and bear fruit, so supplement it with virtue. What are the virtues to add on? Cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity. Just avoiding sin is not enough, we need to pack in virtues to be strong. We must bear fruit with our faith. The Christian life ...

 “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” God loves the world, that means all of us. I once noticed a parishioner’s phone case which has on it these large letters boldly declaring: “I am a daughter of the Most High King…” Followed with smaller wordings: “…who is not moved by the world, for my God is with me and goes before me. I do not fear because I am His.” I thought to myself: wow, a great reminder every time we pick up our phones. We all need that. Every day we are bombarded by noise from all directions, telling us falsely who we should be and how we should live. The world tells us our worth depends on our success, our achievements, our appearance, our popularity and so on. Causing many to feel totally unworthy, and a failure. The worldly standard is not high, but it is false and misleading. Nobody’s real worth should be measured against external benchmarks. But today, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, God reminds us of our true worth, based on our real iden...

 ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”–  they feared the crowd, The chief priests, elders, and scribes were afraid. They feared the crowd, they feared the Roman authorities, and they even feared Jesus. In many ways, they lived in fear. The Bible repeatedly tells us, “Do not be afraid.” Fear is not meant to rule the life of a Christian. When the Church canonizes a saint, one of the things it examines is whether that person lived the virtues heroically. The saints were not people without difficulties; they were people who trusted God more than their fears. What are the fears that control us? Fear of the future, fear of failure, fear of sickness, fear of losing someone we love, fear of what others may think of us? The crowds who followed Jesus were often poor and struggling, yet they found courage because they trusted Him. The more we trust Jesus, the less room fear has in our hearts. He will take care of us. St. Jude gives us a beautiful guide...

 “But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.” Has this ever happened to you before? When everything went wrong. There are days when I made good plans, I did my best, but my plans were overturned, my efforts came out wrong, then problems and troubles arose one after another. Those days were really frustrating, I even question Him why He didn’t come to help me and where He was when I was suffering. In those moments, my prayers became complaints. Now looking back, those may have been the very moments when God was allowing me to unite my small suffering with Jesus on the cross. I should be rejoicing, instead of complaining, for having the privilege to share in the sufferings of Christ. But that is not easy. Naturally, no one welcomes suffering. Yet no one can avoid suffering. And as Christians, every little pain, hardship, difficulty or failure, can be the pebble forming our path to holiness ...

Holy Family School Mass   "The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever." What comes to your mind when you hear the term “the Word of our God”? If you are thinking it is the Bible, then you are right. The Word of God is the Bible. The Bible is also known as the Book of books, because the Bible is a collection of many books. Do you know how many books are in the Bible? If you think there are about 10 books, put up your hands. What about 20 books? Put up your hands. Who thinks there are more than 50 books? And you are right! There are 73 books in the Holy Bible! Do you know how long it took to write the Bible? Who says 100 years? 500 years? More than 1000 years? Oh yes, the 73 books of the Bible were written over 1,500 years. Around 40 different authors contributed to it. It has been translated into hundreds of different languages and read by billions of people around the world, over hundreds and hundreds of years. The world has changed over ...

 "Peter began to say to Jesus, 'We have given up everything and followed you.'" When I was young, I was very careful with my money, just like my mother. I hardly had much to start with, but I also hardly spent any of my pocket money, so with the little I had, I saved. I even made some money by collecting wild honey in the forest and took some spices from the family farm to sell in the market. Money was very important, and every cent I had meant a lot to me. When I entered the seminary, I knew I would not want to join the religious orders as priest, because they have to take a vow of poverty. Diocesan priests do not need to, so I decided to be a diocesan priest. Soon, I learnt to let go, and gradually I stopped clinging to things as if they defined me. After I joined the seminary, our parish was raising funds to purchase new vestments. Since I was not allowed to keep money with me in the seminary, my parents donated all my years of savings for that fund raising. I woul...

 “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” Once I walked into our youth Bible study, and they were discussing the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text traditionally connected to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. They asked me questions about it. I had read it myself when I was their age, mostly out of curiosity, but honestly, I do not remember much of its content. There are also several other apocryphal writings, like the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. But the Church never considered them inspired Scripture, because many of them were written decades after the death of the last Apostle, St. John. Public Revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle. Sometimes I also wish the Bible had more details about Jesus’ infancy and His hidden life. But St. John reminds us today that the world its...

 We just heard the first reading from Isaiah: “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.” Today is a wonderful milestone in your life. You must be so eager to go out and soar on wings like eagles!! But note what is the condition before this line: “Those who hope in the Lord…” Do you remember how it was when you first came to Holy Family School? Some of you came when you were tiny kids. Some of you could not even speak English. Many of you must have been anxious because everything was new to you, teachers and classmates, rules and environment… But over time, days, months and years passed, this school has become your second home. These hallways hold many memories for every one of you: laughter, friendships, victories, even tears, fears and disappointments. There might have been times when you thought you would never make it through. But you did, you got through, you are here now, celebrating the fact that you did not give up, you kept ...

 “And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” I have always wished to experience similar impact and intensity of the Holy Spirit. But I wonder if I wish because I need the gift of tongues in my ministry? Or I wish because I am interested in being part of the excitement? Being inflamed by the Holy Spirit does not always end up with these dramatic outward results. Yet it seems to be happening rather often in the conversion experiences of the early Christians and hardly in these later times. Perhaps we do not have the same deep hunger the early Christians had for the sacraments. In the face of persecution and uncertainty, knowing their lives were always on the line, their desire for the grace of God was thus very intense and strong. They also lived in a world with possibly less distractions, so the Gospel of Jesus could enter more deeply into their hearts. In contrast, we live now in a society where life has become c...

 “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” The disciples were just standing there, staring into the sky, even when Jesus was already out of sight. What were they thinking and feeling? The Ascension of the Lord always evokes a strange feeling in my heart. Jesus is going away. I wonder how would I be thinking and feeling if I were there too? I have a sister who lives in Florida, she has three children. The youngest son enjoys my presence whenever I vacation at their house, he would spend every minute of his waking moments with me.  And every time at the end of my vacation, as I drove off away from their house, my young nephew would run behind my car all the way to the end of their street. He would keep waving to me until he could not see me anymore. I imagine he may have stood there for some time, looking into the distance, even when I was no longer in sight. Possibly hoping I might suddenly appear...

“Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” What do you ask God for? When I was little, I asked God for many small things. One of them was the snacks from a tea shop on the way to school. Once in a while, my parents  would buy them for me, and I loved them. I even wished sometimes that I had been born as the tea shop owner’s son, so I could eat those snacks every day. Years later, one of my friends whose father owned a tea shop told me that he was tired of those snacks because he had them every day. He wished he had grown up on a farm like me, with fresh food and fruits. Very often, we ask for small and temporary things, thinking they will make us happy. Even now, as adults, many of our prayers are like that. We ask for things that are passing, things that do not truly satisfy the heart. But Jesus says: “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” Not temporary happiness—but complete joy. So maybe today we should ask for something greater: A joyfu...

 “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.” There is an often-used phrase in the Alpha program: “Alpha is designed to fail if the Holy Spirit does not show up.” This implies that since Alpha has not failed despite itself and continues to grow from 1977, the Holy Spirit is at work in the program. I think that is true not only for Alpha but for the Church and the whole Christian life. Church would have been totally destroyed, and the Christian life would have been completely crushed with so much internal struggle and trouble, external persecution and attacks, if we are without the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church would not survive, life would have ended, humanity would no longer exist. Yesterday, here in our parish, 25 young people received the sacrament of Confirmation. They confirmed their faith and received the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The first reading ...

 “During the night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” One of the mysterious ways God speaks to people in the Bible is through dreams and visions. I am always fascinated by that. In the early chapters of Genesis, we already see visions and dreams. Abraham looked at the stars, and God promised him descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Jacob saw a ladder between heaven and earth. Joseph had many dreams. Moses, the prophets, St. Joseph in the New Testament, all received guidance from God through dreams and visions. The prophet Joel describes the messianic age with these words: “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” And throughout the history of the Church, many saints received mystical visions, saints like Gemma Galgani, Padre Pio, Teresa of Ávila, and Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. Personally, I do not think I have ev...

 “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” Jesus is saying that if we love Him, then His Father and Him will come and make their home in us. And we know that if the Father and the Son come, the Holy Spirit will come too! When God comes, He does not just pay us a visit. He does not stay at a distance. He desires to live with us. He in us, and we in Him. Fully united. If God truly dwells in us, what more do we need? His presence is enough. His love is enough. His power is enough. If God is with us, we have nothing to be afraid of. But Jesus also gives us a condition: “Whoever loves me will keep my word.” We are called to love Him in action, by obeying His commandments, doing His will, keeping His teachings. Now, this is where many people struggle. For some people, God’s commandments feel like a burden, they think His will dampens their desires and His teachings restrict their freedom. But for those who h...

 “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places… I am going to prepare a place for you.” Think about that. Heaven will not be a vast space where we roam or float about. We will have a home, a place to rest, to take root, to be safe and comfortable. And Jesus is preparing it for us. This is not a general promise, but something personal. Christ has you specifically in mind. He will prepare it in a way that is just right for us. So, are we also preparing ourselves for this future dwelling place? Jesus is the Truth, His promise is real. Heaven is real. We too have made a promise to God at our baptism, renewed at every Easter. Is our promise real? God has set aside a home for us, His children. We need to claim this gift, but not just with lip service. We need to claim it with our action, by how we live. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life." Follow Jesus and we will get there. Trust Jesus and we will get there safe. Live like Jesus now and we will get there happily,...

 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.” Jesus is one with the Father. Jesus is not just a teacher or a prophet. He is the eternal Son of God— fully divine and fully human. He took on our human nature to save us, to redeem us, to bring us back to the Father. Today, the Church celebrates Athanasius of Alexandria, one of the great defenders of this truth. He lived in the 4th century and served as the bishop of Alexandria. At that time, a serious error began to spread in the Church. A priest named Arius taught that Jesus was not truly God— that He was only a creature, that He was created, and not equal to the Father. This teaching was very popular. Many people followed it.  St. Athanasius stood firm. Even as a young deacon, he defended the true faith. In the year 325, the Church gathered at the Council of Nicaea. There, the bishops proclaimed clearly: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only...

 “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?” In today’s Gospel, Jesus is identified by His work. He was known as the ‘carpenter’s son’. St. Joseph was a carpenter. Most likely, he was well known in Nazareth. His work defined him in the eyes of the people. And Jesus, in His hidden life, shared that identity. We do not know much about Jesus’ life in the years of His infancy till His public ministry. But we can imagine it could be very simple and humble. Jesus would have spent those years close to Joseph, watching him work, learning from him, assisting him and finally, possibly taking over the trade when Joseph passed on. In His humanity, Jesus learned how to work, to be an industrious member of society, following the example of His earthly father, Joseph. In the beginning, the first Adam was placed in a garden of the world to labor and care for it. Now, the new Adam, Jesus, was also placed in the carpentry of the world to labor and build for ...

 “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” There is a famous English comedian, Rowan Atkinson, who is well known for his act as Mr. Bean. He once shared that sometimes people went up to him to comment that he looked like Mr. Bean. To which he would respond, “I am Mr. Bean.” But they would insist, “No, no, you just look like him!” It sounds funny but this is exactly what is happening in today’s Gospel. The people asked Jesus, “Tell us plainly, are you the Christ?” They had seen His works and heard His profound teaching. There had never been anyone like Him. No one had performed the miracles He performed. No one had fulfilled the prophecies from old, only He did. Everything pointed to Him as the long-awaited Messiah. Those who knew the Scriptures should have recognized Him easily. Then why were they still asking? Simple answer. They were in denial. They knew, but they refused to acknowledge it. They probably thought they were too intelli...

 “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me… and I will lay down my life for the sheep.” This is the truth. And it is beautiful. We have a God who knows us by name. To Him, we are not just a member in a big church community, not just as a number in a big group - but we are a specific person to Him. He knows us personally, intimately and fully. There is a quote: Satan knows your name but calls you by your sin. God knows your sin but calls you by your name. And not only does He know us, He loves us so much, He lays down His life for us so that we can live. It is the truth. It is also a mystery of love. As St. Paul says: “May you have the strength to comprehend… the breadth and length and height and depth… and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” It is a love beyond understanding. Recently, I watched a short video about the vastness of the universe. To travel to the nearest galaxy from our Milky Way, at the speed of light, it would take about 2.5 millio...

Today is a beautiful day. Because something beautiful is going to happen soon. Do you know what is so special about today? As a priest, this is one of the days I look forward to every year. It is also one of the days Jesus Himself looks forward to every year, at every parish in the world. Jesus has been waiting for you to receive Him in Holy Communion. And it is a great joy, a great honor for me to give you Jesus for the first time in your life. Jesus is very happy. I am very happy. Your teachers are happy. Your parents are happy. Our St. Ambrose parish family is also very happy. Are you happy too? And you know what makes me happier than this? To give you Jesus again and again, week after week, from today onwards. After today, you should be able to receive Jesus at every Mass. Today is a very special day for you. A day you will remember all your life. Today is also a special day for Jesus, a day He does not forget at all. He remembers everybody’s First Holy Communion. From the moment y...

 “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” These words of Jesus are very clear. There are two types of people you can allow into your life. One will give you fullness, peace, and joy in life. The other will come in then leave you with emptiness, sorrow, and destruction. Who will you invite? Jesus says: I came to give you life - life in abundance. What is life in abundance? The world offers abundance too. It promotes and promises happiness through prosperity of material wealth and possessions, great power and control through high position and status. Thus many people keep working hard, they compete and fight, some even try to outsmart the system. Over time, more often than not, all these things will pass, deplete, fail and leave us empty, not one bit happier than when we were innocent children with nothing to our name. The worldly culture promises freedom, but it actually leads to slavery and sadness. So...

 “The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little.” We all experience some suffering in life. We don’t have to go looking for it. It will come looking for us. And as Christians, suffering is part of our discipleship. Jesus said very clearly: “If you want to follow me, take up your cross daily and follow me.” That means every day in the life of a Christian, we each have a cross and we are called not to despise or deny it, but to carry it with grace. Throughout the history of the Church, followers have carried their crosses in various ways. The Desert Fathers believed in severe fasting and a very austere life. In the Middle Ages, some monks practiced harsh penances - even self-inflicting physical suffering. Today, we hardly see such extreme practices. Life itself has enough hardship to offer. Simply by being faithful to our Christian vocation – as a married coup...