Fr. Nivin's Homily Blog

 “…Because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor”. Jesus declared His mission in the Gospel text today by reading from the scroll of Isaiah. Glad tidings are good news, news that will gladden the hearts of the recipients and cause them to rejoice. And prophet Ezra encouraged the Israelites who returned from exile in the first reading, “Do not be sad, and do not weep…for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!” So, what news is good news? What will truly gladden the heart and cause rejoicing? Today my homily will be short, is that good news? My family have always been average, we have always had what we needed, through God’s providence in our hard work. We just did not have comfort or extras, so we seldom go on vacations or travels. But we had simple fun and joy in daily life. My mommy died in 2012 and my papa died in 2018, both due to cancer. Papa had always been a very prayerful, humble and mild-mannered person. I saw him fast and pray consistently throughout h...

 We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of our beloved sister, Maria Dolores and to celebrate her passage from this world into the next. She suffered in her health for some time and is now released from those troubles. She is on her way to the heavenly kingdom. Within the same day of her death, her grandson Edgar Alonso was also called back to the Lord suddenly. This is a tough time for the Tovar family. No words can soothe your sorrows, no consolation can comfort your pain. Only God knows what you are going through and only He can grace you with the strength to embrace this time of sadness and help you go through it with faith. In the first reading taken from the book of Wisdom, we look at human suffering. In many cultures, suffering is seen as a punishment or curse, a lack of blessings. But for all of us who have faith in Jesus Christ, we know that suffering can be a saving grace. God did not cause the suffering, He allows it to happen. Therefore, it must have some good for...

 Nos reunimos aquí hoy para llorar la pérdida de nuestra querida hermana María Dolores y para celebrar su paso de este mundo al otro. Su salud sufrió durante algún tiempo y ahora está liberada de esos problemas. Ella está en camino al reino de los cielos. El mismo día de su muerte, su nieto Edgar Alonso fue llamado de regreso al Señor de forma inesperada. Este es un momento difícil para la familia Tovar. No hay palabra que pueda calmar tus penas, ningún consuelo puede aliviar tu dolor. Solo Dios sabe por lo que estás pasando y solo Él puede otorgarte la fuerza para abrazar este momento de tristeza y ayudarte a atravesarlo con fe. En la primera lectura tomada del libro de la Sabiduría, miramos el sufrimiento humano. En muchas culturas, el sufrimiento se considera un castigo o una maldición, una falta de bendiciones. Pero para todos los que tenemos fe en Jesucristo, sabemos que el sufrimiento puede ser una gracia salvadora. Dios no causa el sufrimiento, Él permite que suceda. Por lo ...

 Anna lived 103 years and God arranged me to encounter her in the last five months of her life. I first met Anna in September 2021. I had just moved to this parish and was having a stressful two months trying to resolve many pressing issues. When I was asked to visit her, I just went without expecting anything more than the usual anointing, blessing and go. I got into Anna’s room in University Park Nursing Home, it was the first time she had seen me and I was wearing a mask, so she gave me a suspicious look, wondering who this stranger was. I pointed to my roman collar and immediately her eyes lit up like an excited little girl. Yet, in her grandmotherly way, she commanded me, “Take off your mask!” and I did. She looked at me so tenderly and smiled like she was seeing her favorite grandson. What followed was the most joyful conversation I ever had with someone I met for the first time. I did not even notice how long we talked. I felt so relaxed, joyful and loved. That first meeting...

 Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011822.cfm “Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.” These words of God are so assuring. If God were to choose based on appearances and height, I would never have made it to priesthood. But the world chooses differently. When I was doing my seminary studies in Rome, I used to go to Germany for summer jobs. I was poor and my home diocese could not afford to give seminarians who studied overseas any allowances, so I worked during the vacation to earn pocket money for my daily expenses. During my first vacation stint, I got a job with a car factory in Munich which produced the BMW cars. Our job was to do summer cleaning of the factory. On the first day of work, they lined up all student workers according to our heights and weights. I was so skinny at that time, so I was almost last in line. Then the work was assi...

Readings:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011722.cfm  In the first reading, prophet Samuel questioned King Saul, “Why then have you disobeyed the Lord?” King Saul replied, “I did indeed obey the lord and fulfil the mission on which the lord sent me.” Then he continued, “But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned…” Saul did what the Lord told him to do, BUT he also did what the Lord had banned. So, was that obedience? If you like coffee and God says, “Drink coffee.” You did as told, that’s obedience conveniently, right? If you also like whisky but God says, “Drink coffee but not whisky.” Then you drank coffee and enjoyed the whisky as well, is that obedience? As a priest, I pledge my obedience to the bishop. I used to serve the bishop in my home diocese in India as his personal secretary. Honestly, it was a challenge to obey him, because there were many decisions he made which I did not agree with, but I managed my best to do as told. Then...

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011322.cfm  “…It was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly…” In yesterday’s gospel reading, Jesus told His disciples, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”  Jesus’s mission is to preach the good news to everyone. He needs to enter as many villages are possible but now we see in today’s gospel, this is being challenged. Why? After Jesus healed the leper, He told him, “…see that you tell no one anything”. Instead, he “went away and began to publicize the whole matter”. He disobeyed Jesus. It is normal that someone who is healed of a terrible disease like leprosy, would be so full of joy and excitement that he wants to tell the whole world about it. It is not a bad thing, it is logical, right? But clearly, when we act out of our own will instead of following what the Lord tells us to, we may be blocking the work of God for greater things. My parents tried to tea...

 “Why do you grieve? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” Hannah was barren. Everyone probably thought she was a cursed woman. Except her husband. Elkanha was a good man and a loving, supportive husband. I think many women dream to have an appreciative husband like him.  Hannah was sad because she wanted to have children, nothing else could satisfy that desire, not even her wonderful husband, not even if there were ten of her husband, could count for having just one son. Some things in life just cannot be replaced, there is no equal substitution. Just like my mommy’s fish curry. She prepared every ingredient from base, slow cooked in a clay pot over firewood. It was not quick cooking with electricity in a steel pot. Believe me, the result is very different. I can still remember the wonderful smell and taste. Sadly, no one else could cook fish curry like mommy, not even my sisters who knew the recipe. There is simply no substitution. (ha ha now I feel hungry…) In recent years, ...

 How many of you remember your birth date? How many of you remember your baptism date? Our birth enters us into earthly life but our baptism marks our soul for eternal life. Baptism sets us aside as the adopted sons and daughters of God. It is the door to other sacraments, entitles us to access all the gifts and graces from God.  This spiritual mark is indelible, it is permanent for eternity, nothing can remove it, not the devil, and not even our own sins can remove it.  Amazing, isn’t it? How then, should we remember our date of birth but not the wonderful, important date of our baptism? We should celebrate it every year. And have you ever thought about this, who should be baptized? Holy persons? No. The answer is – sinners. Sinners are the ones who should be baptized. Anyone who thinks he is not a sinner, has no need for baptism.  In fact, God invites and calls all sinners to come to Him, to be baptized, to be His sons and daughters, to share in the inheritance of ...

For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010622.cfm “Beloved, we love God because he first loved us.” St. John’s epistle of love is so wonderful to help us begin the new year. Throughout this week, we have heard more than 50 times the word ‘Love’. In today’s first reading alone, we hear the word ‘Love’ 13 times. St. John was the only apostle who probably did not die a martyr’s death. Tradition says he lived almost 100 years. And at the end of his life, his repeated preaching during breaking of the bread with the early Christian community was simply, “Dear children, let us love one another.” His focus was clearly this: God is love, He loves us, we love others. What is real love? Psychologists have identified various types of love between humans, and the greatest of these is agape love – selfless, self-sacrificing, unconditional love. Who can love like that? God can. Jesus did. And so did His disciples. Parents do so very often. So can everyone of us. Traditionally, India...

Readings:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010522.cfm In the first reading, St. John writes, “Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God”.  Do you truly and fully believe that Jesus is God? Do you know someone who does not believe so? Many, I am sure. Similarly in St. John’s time, there were many early Christian communities who questioned the divinity of Jesus. They followed Jesus’ teachings but regarded Him as simply a human person with the special power to perform miracles. They did not believe He is God. The disbelief stemmed from the humanity of Jesus. He was born from a woman like any other human, he grew from infancy to adulthood in the same way as the rest of humanity. He experienced hunger, pain, emotions and temptations like anyone. But He did not sin. Jesus was indeed fully human, so how could He also be fully divine? Human logic cannot explain it. Science cannot prove it. Thus, many could not accept it. God came to sav...

 Two things Jesus said in today’s gospel struck me. First, “How many loaves do you have?” and second, “Give them some food yourselves.” Today’s miracle event reminds me of another parallel event, the miracle of water-turned-into-wine at the wedding feast in Cana. Both situations started with a problem which was brought to Jesus – running out of wine for wedding guests and having no food for the crowd. In both situations, Jesus asked for contribution to the solution. At the wedding event, He asked for six jars of water. At today’s event, He asked His disciples to provide whatever food they had. He then transformed and multiplied these. For the wine, He presented the new wine to the master of the banquet while the servants distributed it to all the guests. For the loaves and fish, Jesus gave the multiplied food to the disciples who distributed to the crowd. In both these miracles, Jesus did not work alone, He involved others. God works through us. These miracles teach us that we cann...

 ‘Epiphany’ comes from the Greek word Epiphaneia  , which means ‘great revelation’, ‘appearance’ or ‘manifestation’. On this feast of the Epiphany, what revelation, what appearance or what manifestation are we celebrating? In the first reading, Isaiah prophesied that “upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory”. Thus, we are celebrating the great appearance of God’s glory. Why, how and what else? Shall I ask you a question? At the very beginning, what was the first thing God created? While you think, let me share an experience. When I was at Sacred Heart parish, on certain days of the week, the school would bring their students for Mass. One day, it was the kindergarten kids. During my homily, I asked them the same question, “what was the very first thing God created?” Wow, they gave me so many answers, listed out everything under the sun… except the right answer. After they have tried almost everything, they were silent and thinking hard. Then one little girl fr...