Posts

Homilies

Homily: July 23, 2024, Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Communion with God )

-
 “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Father, mother, brother, sister. This makes a family. What makes a strong family? When father, mother, brother and sister are united, when they move and grow together in the same direction, are never divided in their ways, each looking out for the other, keeping together. Traditionally the father, being the head of the family, sets the direction, and everyone follows faithfully, there will be unity, there will be strength. This is how the ideal, perfect, strong family of God would be. A kingdom divided against itself will not stand, so there can be only one direction, one will. So, what is God’s will? For the world, it is unity. For us, it is to be in communion with Him, and with one another. Does that mean simply obeying God’s commandments? No. That is just a guideline to help us live righteously, without falling into sin. To do the will of God, is to live proactively in response to God’s call fo
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 23, 2024, Tuesday of the sixteenth week in Ordinary time (Shepherd your flock)

-
(Homily for Holy family school Faculty and Staff)  “Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance.” Today’s first reading started with this verse, which is apt for all of you here. Typically, people in various occupations would have an instrument specific to and representative of their profession. When I was young, I learnt about occupations from picture books that showed in a simplistic way what that profession is about: a waiter with an apron and serving tray, a fireman with a red safety helmet and fire hydrant, a farmer with a straw hat and a rake, a carpenter with a hammer and nails, and so on. What we see in reality, may not be exactly the same. For example, in such picture books, a teacher was almost always shown with a book and a chalk board. But when I was in school, all the teachers I saw were always holding a cane! And the school principal had the biggest cane! Caning children was the norm of discipline in those days. They were always on the lookout and
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 22, 2024, Feast of Mary Magdalene (Love)

-
 "Have you seen him whom my heart loves?" When we are in love with someone, we want to see them as often as possible, for as long as possible, and to keep the separation as short as possible, right? How we love, is but a glimpse of how God loves. And this is how God loves us: passionately, faithfully, eternally. Today's first reading is taken from the Song of Songs, which is a collection of poems expressing the immense, deep love of God for His people Israel. God loves His people so much that He seeks them out when they are lost from His sight, distant from His care, gone from His zone. He detests the separation from His beloved people. This reading is also most appropriate for today’s feast of Mary Magdalene. She was a woman tortured by demonic disturbances before she met Jesus, who then freed her, forgave her and healed her with God’s immense love. Because she was forgiven much, thus she was able to love as much. Mary Magdalene loved Jesus truly and totally. She loved H
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 15, 2024, Monay of the fifteenth week in Ordinary time (Pleasing God).

-
“In the blood of calves, lambs, and goats, I find no pleasure.” Why does God find no pleasure in such blood sacrifices? What would please God? In the past, one of the parishes in my home diocese in India used to practice animal sacrifices in church. I do not know how it all started but I know how it all ended. In 1924, exactly one hundred years ago, the bishop at that time banned all animal sacrifices in our parishes. It was a huge decision and he faced strong opposition. Why? The parish church was dedicated to St. Anthony attracted many visitors from other states. People would go and offer animal sacrifices, in the hope of getting their petitions granted. The church would sell chickens outside the church, and when a devotee wanted to offer a sacrifice, they would cut the necks of the chickens, and sell it to the devotees for their sacrificial offertory. The parishioners who sold the chickens to the church made a lot of money and the church profited from the offertory as well. You can
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 14, 2024 Fifteenth sunday in Ordinary time (prophetic).

-
 He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before Him. In the second reading, St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians telling them their glorious destiny, to be holy and without blemish. This destiny had been set even before the foundation of the world. Do you believe that God has already planned your destiny ahead of you? And that it will be holy and glorious? In the big cities of India, as you walk along the streets, you would see many fortune tellers doing palm reading. As you walk nearer to them, they will shout out something that had happened in your life. Very often they would coincidentally make a good guess and the passersby would be amazed enough to want to know more. To know more, you would have to pay a fee. Since they know they have gotten your interest, their earlier guess must have been somewhat correct, with clever questioning, they then weave an almost accurate account of something that had happened in your past. That’s not the end,
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 9, 2024 Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Silver and Gold )

-
"With their silver and gold, they made idols for themselves, to their own destruction. Cast away your calf, O Samaria!".  As you already know, I grew up in India, a predominantly Hindu country. But in the state of Kerala, my hometown, 50% of the people are Christians. And most of the Hindus in our small town were from other states who came to work.  The workers on our family farm were also Hindus from other states. They were very poor and uneducated. They would be allocated some land space in a corner of the town to live in.  Once they settle down, they would set up a worship area made with bricks and every evening, they light a candle or an oil lamp. Every month, they would add on something to build up this small altar. Eventually, they would dedicate it to one Hindu deity — either Shiva, Amman, Kali, Muruka, Vinayaka, Vishnu or another of the many deities. Then every year they would celebrate the dedication, thus it becomes a temple. With their own ‘silver and gold’, they b
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 8-2024, Monday of the fourteenth week in Ordinary time (Raised from death)

-
“My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” How could this official be so sure that just by laying hands on his daughter, Jesus could raise her to life? I have witnessed many miraculous healings and other situations personally, but I have never personally encountered someone returning from death, though I have heard of near-death experiences. I have anointed many dying persons and presided over many funerals of people I personally know, including my own parents and relatives. Did I ever wish and pray for them to escape death or be raised from death by Jesus? Yes, many times. But no, they did not live. I do believe that Jesus is the Lord of life, and He has the power to bring the dead back to life. I am certain that He can perform such miracles even today. I believe this without a doubt. But why did He raise some but not others? In the gospel accounts, only three death-to-life miracles were recorded: Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha; the daught
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 7, 2024, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Lack of Faith )

-
“He was amazed at their lack of faith.” The word “lack” in Aramaic is ‘lachasirutha’, which is like saying ‘being small’ or ‘having a little of’. So what Jesus was describing here of the people from his native place was that they had some faith but very little. The people in the synagogue upon hearing Jesus preach, were amazed at his eloquence and wisdom, believing it to be a gift beyond human doing but at the same time, they were also doubtful and skeptical because of what they knew about his background and family. They judged based on their familiarity and knowledge, but never did they consider that God could work through humble settings and simple beginnings. Their line of thought is not uncommon, it is logical to some extent. Don’t we also rationalize the same way sometimes? How could someone who was so poor become so generous? How could someone from uneducated parents become a scholar or a scientist? How could someone with a terrible sinful life become a saint? How could someone w
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 6, 2024, Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary time/ Feast of Maria Goretti.

-
“Thus says the LORD: On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old…” In today’s first reading, ‘the fallen hut of David’ refers to Jerusalem which had disobeyed and sinned against God, and fallen into captivity. But God does not hold a grudge against His people, He wants to rebuild Jerusalem, the house of David. He wants to free His people from captivity and bring them back to the glory He gave them since the beginning. At the very beginning of creation, God created everything good, but soon after, man destroyed what was good and made it imperfect. From then, God started His restoration work, rebuilding His creation and renewing His relationship with man all through the history of salvation. Man breaks, God mends. Man messes, God fixes. Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Maria Goretti. She was canonized a saint in 1950, 48 years after she died as a young child. I have visited her tomb at Nett
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 2, 2024, Tuesday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary time (Meet God ).

-
“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.” This is the last verse from today’s first reading, and it reminds me of my school days. When I was in school, from Pre-K right up to high school, there were umpteen times when I was told, “Prepare to meet your principal.” And that meant trouble. Every principal that had led my school, has had the privilege of punishing me for being naughty or not doing my homework, and occasionally my parents too were called in to meet them. That was so embarrassing for them, and totally shameful for me. Yet it did not stop me from getting into trouble as I progressed through school. And so, whenever I go to Holy Family School here, and if I see students in the principal's office, it reminds me of my own experience in the past. I imagine that they too probably got into some trouble for not finishing their homework or misbehaving in class. And if I see a kid from SAC in the principal's office, I would just pretend that I did not look inside and did not see t
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: July 1, 2024, Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (The poor)

-
 "For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth and force the lowly out of the way." This was how our first reading began today. Prophet Amos was prophesying against the northern kingdom of Israel. They had become rich and established themselves as a superpower among the nations, but they had completely forgotten how God was the one who guided and protected them all through the years when life was uncertain, and they were poor. Instead of being thankful to God, they disobeyed His commandments and abused the poor among them, the rich became richer while the poor became poorer. Thus, Amos warned how God will ‘crush (them) into the ground’ if they persisted in their sinfulness. Is being poor a sin? In this country, many people choose to be poor and homeless. In my home country, no one wants to be poor, because in
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 25, 2024, Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (God Alone)

-
 “Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” The Assyrians had already encamped themselves near Judah, ready to march into the city and take over the nation, like how they had already taken over the other ten tribes of Israel. Only Judah and Benjamin were left. This statement is from the letter which the Assyrian king Sennacherib sent to Hezekiah, king of Judah. It did not just warn Judah that they were coming to take over Judah by force, but was also mocking that the God of Israel will be helpless and a fake. What should King Hezekiah do in such a situation? It was a fact that the Assyrian army was huge, Judah was simply too small to fight them.  Logically, it would make sense to surrender to Sennacherib to avoid bloodshed and accept the disgrace and the capture. All the neighboring countries had already lost to the Assyrians. In our own life, have we also faced such situations before? Stuck and unable to
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 24, 2024, Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.

-
“Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.”  Some people do go through life tougher and rougher than others. I personally know some such people who lived the whole of their lives literally toiling and working till they die. My own parents lived like that. Since young they were already laboring to help their own families. When they got married, they labored every day from morning till night to provide for us. Before they even got a chance to rest and retire, they fell ill and passed on. They did not accomplish anything spectacular and daily life was simply hardship from beginning till the end. They have never experienced a good life, but they have discharged their duties and responsibilities fully. Is such a life meaningful? Looking at Zechariah, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist, they might not have lived in extreme poverty, but they toiled in other ways. For a woman to be barren in E
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 23, 2024, Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (New creation)

-
 “So, whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” Old is gold. Many products in the past were created by skilled craftsman, they were made with pride and made to last a long time. Many old memories were filled with innocence and simple pleasures. Friendships that can last the test of time are treasures, valuable as gold. However, nowadays, many things and devices are made to be replaced, because if they last too long, businesses will not get new sales and will not survive. Even relationships develop into intimacy very fast but break up even faster, because people look for immediate gratification and have no patience to grow together. Memories are made up of more regrets than rewards. The pace of life is so fast that everything is new, because there is no time for anything to stay long enough to become old. Disposables are now so common, acceptable and practical. But then again, is old always good? Not everything. And is everyt
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 22, 2024. Saturday of the eleventh week in Ordinary time (Don't worry).

-
 "But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil." ‘Tomorrow will take care of itself’; do you trust that? But note the verse that came before it, ‘seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness’. When Pope John XXIII decided on the convocation of the Second Vatican Council, which was a huge historical event seeking to renew and restore the Church back to its roots, our late holy father had great difficulty falling asleep the night before the announcement to the whole church. He later told that he finally convinced himself this way: “Giovanni, why don’t you sleep? Is it the pope or the Holy Spirit that governs the Church? It’s the Holy Spirit, right? Well then, go to sleep, Giovanni!” and then he fell asleep and slept well.  If the Pope was able to entrust the work of the whole Universal Church to the Holy Spirit a
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 18, 2024 Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

-
"Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."  This verse from the first reading really struck me. Our sins have far-reaching consequences beyond our imagination. We all carry original sin in us before we are baptized. Original sin is the consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God and passed down through next generations. We read in the 2nd Book of Samuel how King David committed grave sins but later repented sorrowfully because of prophet Nathan’s revelation. However, the consequence of his sins was him losing his son to death soon after his birth. In today’s reading, Ahab too repented in remorse for his sin, but the consequence of that terrible murder remained in the house of Ahab, even though he did not commit the act himself. Just as Jesus warned the Pharisees: "Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and c
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 9, 2024, Tenth Sunday in Ordinary time (Division)

-
 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” This is so true. Jesus was not just talking about Satan but He is also referring to his own Jewish community, particularly the Pharisees, who were causing divisions in society and among the Jewish people. If they fully understood the word of God, they would have recognized Jesus and not be persecuting Him. Being united is powerful; any community or organization which is divided is weak and bound to break up, including families and relationships. In the first chapters of Genesis, we can already see that division. Satan tempted Eve when she was alone, to turn her against God and against her husband. Thereafter, having herself sinned, she too convinced Adam to turn against God. With the same selfish attitude to defend self and push the guilt and responsibility to others, the division in relationship worsened as we see Adam blaming God, sayin
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 6, 2024, Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time.

-
“Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.” Before Paul was converted, he was enjoying success, recognition, authority and power as a Christian persecutor. But when he encountered Jesus and began to love the Lord and His sheep with all his heart, all his understanding, and all his strength, the sufferings also began to come to him, and he had to ‘bear with everything’. We all suffer in one way or another. We all have our own crosses to carry, but it is important to know whether we are carrying a cross because of salvation or because of our own wrong actions. There is an effect to every cause, and a consequence to every action. The consequence of wrong decisions, foolish actions, prideful deeds, selfish greed, over-ambitious endeavor, unhealthy relationships, financial mismanagement, and addictive habits is suffering. And these are self-inflicted sufferings, they
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 5, 2024 Wednesday of the ninth week in Ordinary time (Stir into Flame)

-
 “For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.” ‘Stirring into flame’ was one of my daily tasks when I was a young boy. In my family, every meal was cooked with firewood. There was no electricity, no gas. To heat up our kitchen stove, we had to keep the firewood burning, my mother would always ask me to blow through a small steel pipe to stir up the flames of the firewood. That was my job every day when mommy cooked. Mommy’s cooking took hours. Then there was the local blacksmith who sharpened our spades, sickles and axes. Whenever I brought our farm tools to him for sharpening, I would also have to help him keep the heat up for the sharpening process. I had to keep swinging the handle of a pump to force air into the fire to keep it burning for as long as the sharpening was on-going. Based on my childhood experiences, to “stir into flame” is hard work. My cheeks and mouth were always tired and painful from the kitche
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: JUne 5, 2024, Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Salvation).

-
Holy Family School Mass "He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to His own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began." There are many important points to note in this verse, I will highlight four: One, God saved us. Two, we are called to a holy life. Three, not by our works, but by God’s design. Four, and by the grace of Jesus Christ. Let me check your general knowledge. Can you name some well-known religions in the world? Yes, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism. Do you know any friends who believe in any of these religions? Well, I did too when I was in school. That was in India. I had school friends who were Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists. Although I attended a Catholic school, majority of the students were Hindus, Catholics were a minority. We had school Mass on Fridays, right before the lunch break. During this time, the Muslim students w
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 4, 2024, Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

-
“But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” We all have our hobbies, areas of passion and interest. At one point in my life, I was very interested in cars, and I followed closely all the new technologies and happenings in the car industry. I could identify every car on the street and knew all their technical aspects. Although now I'm not as crazy as before, I still pay attention to new makes and models of cars launched. I am sure you too have your passion in sports, music, the arts, or other areas of interest, and you would also follow closely all the updates and changes relevant to your interest. What you know about this area would be more in-depth and extensive than the normal person. What about the knowledge of God? The Catholic Church? The faith? Do we also put in much effort to know, understand and follow closely all that involve and are relevant to our faith? In today’s first reading, St.
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: June 1, 2024, Saturday of the Eight week in Ordinary time.

-
 “"But shall we say, 'of human origin'?" - they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet.’ One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is ‘Fear of God’. Our God is a loving Father, and we are His beloved children, so should we live in fear of Him? No, we should not. Then what is this gift about? It is a respectful fear and deep reverence. It is a heightened awareness that “my heavenly Father watches over me and sees everything that I do.” It is also the deliberate and intentional acceptance of and surrender to God’s will, His authority, His power over our life. It is living in mindfulness of the Final Judgment of God at the end of time, which is a judgement of love. You can thus imagine having this gift of ‘fear of God’ in our lives, we will be able to live truly free from sin and in steady progression towards holiness. Without this gift, we would be living in fear of other material obsession or other persons, in the sense of worshipping them and givin
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: May 28, 2024, Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Holy Family School Mass)

-
Today we are celebrating a very, very special and joyous occasion, do you know what that is? Yes! Our second graders received their First Holy Communion! So a school famliy we celebrate their joy. Now why is this so special and so joyous? Because receiving Holy Communion is really receiving Jesus Himself, to be united with Him heart in heart, body in body, totally and fully. Can you imagine the powerful King of the Universe, who loves you very, very much, so much that He is willing to become so small so that He can enter into your heart and stay with you? That is so wonderful! Something hard for us to fully understand but yet it is true! Jesus wants so much to be with us always, forever and ever. He wants to bless us and give us everything that we need for our souls to be saved. Do you think Jesus would give us everything we ask for?  Like what we heard in the gospel passage today, James and John went to Jesus and boldly asked Him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: May 28, 2024, Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

-
“Set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” St. Peter advises the people to focus on grace, to set their hopes completely on it. But what is grace, really? Surprisingly, Google provides a very appropriate and theologically accurate answer. It says grace refers to “God’s favor toward the unworthy” or “God’s benevolence on the undeserving.” So unworthy are we, yet God’s favor rests on us. We are graced. So undeserving are we, yet God is lovingly benevolent towards us. We are graced. So deep in sin are we, yet God sent His Son to die so that we are redeemed from eternal death. We are graced. In his suffering, St. Paul pleaded with the Lord to spare him the thorn, but Jesus comforted and encouraged St. Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Indeed, it was grace that helped St. Paul go through his pain. Similarly, for all of us, God’s grace is sufficient, with it we overcome everything, we overcome sin, we overcome death. Where can we fi
Post a Comment
Read more

Homily: May 24, 2024, Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Don't complain).

-
"Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged… Indeed, we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord." I really wish we had more scripture texts by St. James the Apostle. His short epistle is full of wisdom. He was the earliest among the apostles to receive martyrdom, which is why he did not get to write much. Look at today’s reading and you can see how much he understood the human condition and was able to preach effectively with relevance to people’s lives. His advice for his listeners in those days is still applicable and very relevant for us in our time. We still struggle with the same issues even after 2,000 years. Do not complain but count every blessing! That is my constant reminder for myself. Although most of the time, I just needed to vent my anger and frustrations to someone who understands, yet I would always regret it after complaining. Thank
Post a Comment
Read more