Homily: March 21, 2022, Monday of the Third Week of Lent

-

 “…if only my master would present himself to prophet in Samaria…” suggested the little slave girl from Israel.

This simple suggestion started the dramatic turn of events for Naaman, the Syrian commander. When he went to prophet Elisha, he was highly offended by the simplistic prescription for his healing.

He went away angry and complained, “Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?”

What do you think? Is it the washing or is it a special river that works miracles of healing?

Today’s readings present to us two distinct types of people – the humble who relied on God’s wisdom and the prideful who relied on their own judgements.

Thanks to his servants who were wise in simple things and persuaded him. Naaman listened to them and was healed. And he later vowed to worship only one God, the God of Israel.

The simple people in this story were able to see what the prideful people could not see. There is power even in what looks simple and plain. Because God works best through the humble, simple and plain. God is the power.

Similarly in the Gospel, we hear Jesus lamenting that “no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Because people did not have faith in Jesus whom they thought they knew was a humble carpenter’s son. They did not believe someone so simple could do great works.

One good example is the story of EWTN – Eternal Word Television Network founded by Mother Angelica. She was a simple, quite unknown nun who saw God’s plan to reach the people through TV media. 

She started a small humble studio which grew to become the largest religious media network in the world. From a poor nun without much power in the church, she became the most influential Catholic woman in America, bringing Catholic content to everyone.

God reveals himself to the humble and works wonders through those who are simple and plain. May we learn to trust God and rely on Him by humbling ourselves. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

March 1, 2025: First Holy Communion Homily: St. Joseph's Catholic Church Seffner, Florida

-
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...
Read more

Homily: April 19, 2026, Third Sunday of Easter (God Walk with us )

-
 “Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.” When I was a child, I walked a lot. Because few families owned a car, including my family and there was hardly any public transportation in my village. So, everybody walked. One of my earliest memories in life was walking with my grandfather. He brought me along wherever he went. We walked along the narrow village roads, through farms and plantations. Sometimes I would walk slowly by his side. Sometimes I would run ahead a few steps, then pause to wait for him, and then I would run ahead again. I still enjoy going on walks, with nowhere specific to go to, just strolling around leisurely, sometimes with my nieces and nephews, with friends, or alone, just to enjoy the scenery and fresh air. It is always especially pleasant to walk with someone you love, respect or are comfortable with. In today’s Gospel, we see a life-changing walk. On the day of the Resurrection, two disciples of Jes...
Read more

Homily: May 14, Feast of St. Mathias (Chosen)

-
"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...
Read more

Homily: March 6, 2024, Wednesday of the Third week in Lent (Laws)

-
 “Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’” In today’s first reading, Moses exhorts the people of Israel to be carefully obedient to God’s Law. It is emphasized that if they remain faithful to these statutes, they will be a great nation, ‘truly a wise and intelligent people’. We know how the story developed after this - they became arrogant, rebellious, and disobedient to God, their glory did not last, eventually they ended up in exile and slavery. By nature, humans have been gifted with free will, and thus we do not like to be controlled, restricted, or bound by rules and laws. Yet, without boundaries, society or community will be in chaos. Everyone will be doing as they wish, there will be no order. Thus, laws are everywhere – in the church, in school, in every country, even in the family. It seems like we have no ...
Read more

Homily: May 16, 2016 Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter (Ask)

-
“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...
Read more

Homily: June 18, 2025, Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (Not to be seen)

-
 “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...
Read more

Homily: May 1, 2024: May crowning Mass at Holy Family School

-
 "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Did you remember hearing this from today’s first reading? This verse really struck me. The ‘woman clothed with the sun’ mentioned, do you know who this woman is? Yes, it is referring to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. St. John the Apostle had this vision and he described the mother of the Jesus as ‘clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her heard a crown of twelve stars’. Who would usually wear a crown? Yes, a king or a queen.  It is a symbol of their authority over everyone in the country, a sign of the power vested in them to rule the people and for them to obey their rule. So, Mother Mary is a queen, who wears a crown of twelve stars. Why twelve? Do you know what in the Bible are twelve in number? Yes, there were twelve tribes of Israel and Jesus had twelve apostles. The twelve tribes of Israel descended from the twelve chi...
Read more

Homily: May 23, 2024, Holy Family school Graduation Mass.

-
First, congratulations to all of you for successfully completing middle school! Are you happy that you are graduating? I graduated from middle school in 1999. That was twenty-five years ago! We did not have a graduation ceremony like this because my school provided pre-K to grade 12 classes all on the same campus. So, we did not leave school, we just moved up to another grade, another class, but thankfully, our teachers organized something simple for us to celebrate that milestone. I remember during my school days, the hours in class seemed to pass very slowly, but now I look back, time seems to fly by with rocket speed! It will be the same for you, so enjoy being a student now, these could be the best times of your life! Here, you are the seniors of the school, soon, you will be freshmen in high school, you will be the juniors. You will again look up to the seniors and learn from them. In middle school, your teachers gave you a lot of attention and took care of you. When you go to hig...
Read more

Homily, May 31, 2022, Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

-
 “For at that moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy”. When I was studying in the minor seminary, news that my eldest sister was pregnant with her first child was announced. My siblings and I were very excited. According to local Indian tradition, at the seventh month of the pregnancy, the husband’s family would have to send his wife back to her parents’ home to prepare for birth of the child.  So, my eldest sister came home and stayed with us for three months before the delivery and another three months after the birth of her first-born son. my sister was the only pregnant woman I have ever had close encounter with. The most exciting experience I had was when I actually saw the movements of my nephew, still in her womb. And whenever me and my siblings came close to talk to my sister, her baby would make movements in her womb. So even a little baby in the womb can sense the presence of other people near the mother. Amazing, isn’...
Read more

Homily: May 11, 2026 Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

-
 “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 ...
Read more