Homily: March 17, 2022, Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

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 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green.”

The biggest tree in our family farm is a tree growing just beside the creek. It should be more than 100 years old now. My siblings and I have a lot of memories around this tree. It is always green, even in the hot summer. And its huge crown provides much shade to needy plants and people. I have taken shelter under this tree on many occasions during heavy rain. It also protects the cardamom plants around it from the harsh heat of the sun. There was a rock in the creek on which my mummy used to wash our clothes under the shade of this big and strong tree. The river feeds this tree while it serves others.

The saints are like that, they stay close to God, feeding on His words. They are strong spiritually because they receive abundant graces from God through the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. Their lives are not without struggles yet they are happy despite their challenging circumstances. They serve others with joy and make people around them happy too. Like the big tree beside the creek.

The purpose of our existence is not to live and die for ourselves. We draw strength from God to serve others, just as our Lord did. Let us not be like the rich man in today’s Gospel. Let us live close to Jesus and love like Him. Amen.


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Homily: June 9, 2026, Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time (Shine-Light)

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“Lord, let your face shine on us.” Isn’t this a beautiful prayer in today’s Responsorial Psalm. We are asking not simply for blessings, but for God Himself, for Him to look at us lovingly from above, for His glory to shine on us, not away from us. It is a prayer asking for God to be present to us, to love us, to desire us despite our sinfulness. And truly, God is always present, totally loves and forever desires us. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us: “You are the light of the world.”  We know we are not the source of light, but we can reflect light. God is light, when God’s face shine on us, we become His beacon of light too. In the Book of Exodus, after Moses spoke with God on the mountain, his face shone so brightly that people could hardly look at him. Similarly, when we live constantly in the presence of God, we too will begin to radiate peace, joy, love and holiness. How do we live in the presence of God? Very simply, spend time before the Holy Eucharist, read the Bible, receive t...
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Homily: June 8, 2026, Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time (Trust)

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“You shall drink of the stream, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.” Prophet Elijah’s experience and encounter with God seemed extraordinary. And God’s way of providing for his needs also seemed unusual. Ravens bringing food for a human person? This sounds impossible because ravens, though intelligent, are not known for being friendly. Yet Elijah did not question God’s plan. He simply trusted and obeyed. And true enough, he went to where God told him to go, he drank from the stream, and indeed the ravens brought him bread and meat to eat. I wonder, if God had used a usual way to provide for Elijah, it probably would look too normal to be an act of God, wouldn’t it? Last Saturday at the CAL gathering in Des Moines, the youth were asked, “What is faith?” One young person answered beautifully: “Following the Unknown who is there.” Indeed, that is how faith looks like, to trust in the Lord, even when we do not fully understand His ways, or even when our His plans do not conform ...
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March 1, 2025: First Holy Communion Homily: St. Joseph's Catholic Church Seffner, Florida

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Did you listen attentively to the Gospel reading? Yes? Let me test you… What did Jesus say? Did He say, “Whoever eats my bread and drinks my wine?”  No! He said, “Whoever eats my FLESH and drinks my BLOOD remains in me and I in him.” Yes, when you receive Holy Communion, you are receiving the real flesh and blood of Jesus. I am sure Fr. Roy, your catechists, parents and the whole parish community have prepared you well for this day, so you know what you are receiving today. But what I want to focus on now is the last part where Jesus says, ‘remains in me and I in him’. 29 years ago in 1996, I received my First Holy Communion. I was eight years old, but I still remember that day vividly. I remember the preparations, my First Reconciliation, and the excitement I felt when I lined up to receive Jesus for the very first time. I remember seeing the priest dipping the Precious Body into the Precious Blood, and then that precious moment – Jesus’ body and blood rested on my tongue. So swee...
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Homily: May 14, Feast of St. Mathias (Chosen)

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"It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you”.  Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Matthias, who was not at first one of the twelve nor part of the inner circle of Jesus. He was chosen later into the college of apostles, to take the place of Judas. In the first reading, we saw how the apostles prayed and asked the Lord to show them whom He had chosen, someone who had accompanied them ‘the whole time’. They then cast their lots and God’s choice was revealed. Did God choose Matthias only at that point when the apostles had to replace Judas? Or did God already planned and prepared Matthias ‘the whole time’ when he was following Jesus throughout His ministry, and remained in the community even after the crucifixion? St. Paul says, “He chose us in him, before the foundation of the world…” Can you imagine, right up to this point in your life and mine, you and I are present right now in this holy place not by chance, but by choice. Through our own decisions nevertheless, but not w...
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Homily: June 12, 2026, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (learn from me)

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 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.” Jesus spoke these words at the beginning of His public ministry. Instead of entering His important mission with pride and great fanfare, Jesus entered meek and humble. And He says, “…learn from me…” At the end of His earthly life on the cross, when the soldier pierced His side, blood and water gushed forth from His heart — a visible sign of His total sacrifice, His love for humanity. He truly was meek and humble of heart, accepting a humiliating death despite being a King and not having committed any crime. He loved us till the very end. According to an ancient Christian tradition, it was said that the soldier who pierced the side of Jesus, was suffering from very poor eyesight, but when some of Jesus’ blood and splattered on his eyes, his eyesight was fully restored, he was healed. Whether historical or symbolic, the story shows us that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is...
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Homily: June 14, 2023, Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time (Smallest Letter)

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 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law. What is the smallest letter of the law? In my home diocese in India, the church belongs to the Syro-Malabar tradition and our liturgy is celebrated differently from the Roman rite we celebrate here. The liturgical language used is East Syriac. Syriac is very similar to Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus and His disciples. Both languages share the same alphabet, and within it, the smallest letter is the Yod (^), which resembles a small upside-down "V". One of our seminarian friends was nicknamed "Yod" because of his small physical stature.  Despite its size, this letter holds great significance in the language. Yod is used to form all the other letters, and since the Jewish tradition holds that God uses all the letters as the building blocks of creation, Yod points to God's omnipresence. And creation is natural law. So when Je...
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Homily: June 14, 2026, Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary time (Covenant)

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 “… you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people… You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” What beautiful assurance from our God, stated so clearly in our first reading today. Imagine the Almighty Creator of the universe saying to us mere human beings that we are His special possession, that we are so dear to Him. He, Who is all powerful, declaring His endearing love for us, who are nothing. We are truly blessed. Deep in every person’s heart, there is a longing to be special to somebody, to belong, to be loved and valued. I have a friend from childhood. His name is Dijol. I have known him since kindergarten. We are somewhat different in a lot of ways. His parents were teachers, and from a young age he did well in his studies, he would always top the class for tests and exams. He had dreams and ambitions. He always knew he wanted something bigger in life. My parents were farm people. From young, I helped my parents milk the cows, feed goats ...
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Homily: June 13, 2026, Memorial of The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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 aking the yoke of oxen, he slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh and gave it to his people to eat. Then he left and followed Elijah as his attendant.” I have heard this passage many times during my seminary days and throughout the past ten years of priesthood, especially during retreats. It is such a beautiful scene in the Old Testament describing how Elisha received and accepted God’s call. Elisha was plowing in the field when Elijah called him. He not only left what he was doing, but he also slaughtered the oxen and burned the very equipment he had been using. He did not want to go back to his old life. It was a total commitment to God. In the same way, the disciples left their nets and followed Jesus. Because of their openness and complete surrender to God, the Lord performed many wonders through them. The same is true for us. The more our hearts are open to God, the more God is able to work through our lives. There is no one in the histor...
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Homily April 29, Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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 “And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus”. Even after being flogged, all day long, the disciples continued teaching and preaching everywhere… Amazing, isn’t it?  These past few days, we have been reading from Acts of the Apostles. We see how the Jewish leaders and high priest tried to stop the apostles from preaching in the name of Jesus. But they failed. The Pharisee Gamaliel rightly said, “if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” How true. The church is from God. The disciples did not stop teaching and proclaiming. They even rejoiced at being flogged for what they were doing. They were on fire for Jesus. They were so eager and excited to tell everyone about Jesus. What about us? If there is a new restaurant serving delicious food or a store is having a great end-of-summer sale, we would hear many people talking about it. Some w...
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Homily: June 22, 2024. Saturday of the eleventh week in Ordinary time (Don't worry).

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 "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...
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