Homily: March 3, 2022, Thursday after Ash Wednesday

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 “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”.

First, do you wish to go after Jesus? Make a firm decision.

Second, deny yourself – your desires and ambitions for comfort, convenience, wealth, pleasures, fame, success.

Third, take up your cross – the difficulties, challenges, sufferings that come with the decision to go after Jesus.

Finally, follow Him – the way He fasts, prays, serves. The way he loves, sacrifices, forgives and obeys.

A few weeks ago, a friend with a medical condition was experiencing extreme, unbearable pain. She was sent to the ER at Unity Point. I visited her in the waiting room. While talking to her, she pointed to another suffering man in the room. She said, “He must be in a lot of pain.”

She was bearing a heavy cross. But at that moment she was not thinking about her own. She felt for the suffering of others. That their crosses were heavier than hers.

Do you feel you have the heaviest cross? Do you complain about your cross?

Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. Where do you think we are going?

Yes, heaven. Our faith is the passport, our cross is the luggage, God’s grace is the flight.

So, let us not negotiate for a lighter cross. But ask for more grace. Take it up and follow. All the way.

We Adore You, O Christ, and We Bless You, Because by Your Holy Cross You Have Redeemed the World. 


Comments

  1. Lisa Schwarte4 March 2022 at 08:41

    Our faith is the passport, our cross is the luggage, God’s grace is the flight. Jeff and I love this sentence. So poetic! Well Done!

    ReplyDelete

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Homily: June 29, 2025, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul

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 From the first reading, Peter said: “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.” From the second reading, Paul said: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.” Peter and Paul. Distinct characters but one heart and mind. Different persons but together in mission. Two apostles but one Lord and Master. Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the two pillars of the Catholic Church, together they make up the foundation of our Catholic teaching. Among the many disciples of the Lord, we know more about Peter and Paul, thanks to St. Luke, who recorded their stories and events in the Acts of the Apostles. The first half of the book was focused on Peter, the other half on Paul. When we look closely at them, we immediately see many differences, but why does the Church celebrate them together on the same feast ...
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Homily: March 29, 2025, Saturday of theThird Week in Lent (Rain)

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 “He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth.” Do you like the rain? I have always enjoyed rain, not just watching it from my window, but walking or playing in the rain. Rain is refreshing, especially on hot days. When I was little, growing up in India, we always looked forward to the summer rain. It wasn’t until I came to Iowa that I experienced spring rain, which is gentle, joyful and uplifting. During summer in India, the scorching heat would dry up everything; water in the creeks and ponds would vanish, grass and plants would wither. In those days before there was tap water, people would walk long distances in the summer heat to collect water then carry it home in huge plastic pots. The intense heat, the lack of oxygen and the loss of liveliness in the environment also dulled everybody’s mood. Then after some months, the rain would come. Sometimes suddenly, sometimes in thunderstorms, but we would always know it was coming. The hornbill birds would...
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Homily: May 19, 2023, Friday of the Sixth week of Easter (Shave Head)

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 At Cenchreae, he had shaved his head because he had taken a vow. At the end of the first reading, we heard that Paul shaved his head because of a vow he took. Scholars have suggested that very likely Paul had taken a Nazarite vow, and at the completion of the term and requirements, he would shave his head. Such a custom is common in Asia, especially in India. Catholic devotees would make vows to Mother Mary or some saints. Hindus also practice the same, taking vows to their deities, and they would shave their heads in response to the fulfilment of their petitions or requests. My mother was such a devotee, she took many vows. When my parents were childless for 7 years, my mother took many vows in return for the blessing of a child. One of which she promised to shave the head of her first child at the Velankanni Shrine. It is a major Marian shrine located in another state next to where my family lived. Finally, my mother gave birth to 7 children over 13 years, she could not travel t...
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Homily: July 1, 2025, Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Flee for your life!)

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 “Flee for your life! Don’t look back or stop anywhere on the plain.” Sodom was about to be totally destroyed, and the angel of the Lord came to save Lot and his family. But Lot hesitated. Why? Because all his property, his possessions, his wealth, his pleasurable and comfortable life were left behind and would be destroyed. Lot was very attached to all those material things. They were his life. We recall in the earlier chapters of Genesis, when Lot and Abraham divided the lands, Lot chose the best portion for himself, it was the fertile land near Sodom. He wanted to be wealthy and prosperous. Now, everything he had built had to be abandoned; he had to detach and let go. Detachment is painful. This reminds me of a real-life story I heard recently. A businessman who left India years ago and went to Kuwait. Through much hard work there, he finally built a profitable and successful crude oil company with many offices in major cities around the world. But when the Kuwait War broke out,...
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Homily: June 27, 2025, MSolemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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 “As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep.” Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. And yet, if we look closely at the readings, we don’t see any explicit reference to the heart of Jesus. However, in the second reading, we read about the love of God through Jesus and in the first reading and Gospel, we are given a clear description of the love of a good shepherd for his own sheep. The good shepherd in these texts refer to Jesus, so what we celebrate today, is the loving, self-giving heart of Jesus, our good and true shepherd. We celebrate His unwavering protection, dedicated care and sacrificial love for us, His flock. Sheep are vulnerable, they do not have any sense of direction, totally cannot protect themselves or each other, but quite amazingly, they respond to the voice and instructions of their shepherd. They cannot survive on their own, they need their shepherd. So, the good shepherd w...
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Homily: February 7, 2023, Tuesday of the Fifth week in Ordinary time.

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 “God blessed them, saying: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” We continue our first readings from the book of Genesis. The first eleven chapters of Genesis are pre-historic, what we read are not historical facts, the events cannot be explained scientifically. But there is no doubt that every detail is divinely inspired as God wants to reveal the Truth to us. Through these chapters, God wants us know that he is the Creator, the author and owner of everything. He has a plan and purpose. The Bible is God revealing His plans to us. The world thinks that resources are limited and so we should not overpopulate. Many countries even have birth control laws. But God says ‘multiply, fill the earth’. Surely, He knows what He is saying, and His instructions are not flawed. I agree with Mahatma Gandhi who once said, “The world has enough resources for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed.” Yes, it is greed which limits our resources and creates hunger, pover...
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Homilía: Julio 17, 2022, XVI Domingo Ordinario

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 "Marta, Marta, muchas cosas te preocupan y te inquietan, siendo así que una sola es necesaria. María escogió la mejor parte". ¿Qué es esa única cosa que se necesita? Este consejo de Jesús es muy importante para cada uno de nosotros. Reflexionemos sobre las lecturas de hoy para entenderlo mejor. En la primera lectura, Abraham vio a tres hombres que estaban cerca de su tienda; inmediatamente se ofreció a servirles y les dio una buena cena, antes de que siguieran su camino. En la lectura del Evangelio, cuando Jesús entró en el pueblo, Marta y María lo recibieron. Marta se ocupó de preparar una buena cena para Jesús. Mientras que María, se sentó a sus pies a escucharle hablar. Marta se sentía agobiada y ansiosa. Necesitaba la ayuda de María para dar una buena comida a su invitado. Entonces Jesús dijo: "una sola es necesaria. María escogió la mejor parte...". Efectivamente, María eligió algo maravilloso. Sentarse con Jesús y escucharle hablar. Eso es lo que nos gustaría...
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Homily: October 30, 2022, Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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 Today’s first reading begins with this, “Before the Lord the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.” During my personal prayer time, I often tell the Lord all my worries and anxieties, the stress from ministry, the financial burdens of the parish and so on. Sometimes I grumble, sometimes I am angry, sometimes I am so tired, I fall asleep while complaining to the Lord. So if you ever find me asleep and snoring in front of the tabernacle, please don’t laugh, just pretend you didn’t see me. And after all my lamentations, I always find consolation from a deep realization of the immense breadth, width, greatness and love of God. Our God is just so BIG. To the God who created this vast universe, millions of stars, the faithful sun, the comforting moon, and this wounded earth… my worries and anxieties are nothing. He has everything under control, if I let Him. Our big God loves, feels for and is attentive to every little one of His ...
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Homily: January 10, 2023, Tuesday of the first week in Ordinary Time.

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In today’s first reading, St. Paul is writing to the Hebrews to tell them about the dignity with which God created the first man, “You crowned him with glory and honour, subjecting all things under his feet.” This was our original state. We were subject to God only, and all else, the whole of creation, were subject to us. But with one fall, a single sin, we lost our glorious state, and became subject to many other things, even to nature and its forces.  In today’s world, we are still enslaved. The greatest slave master is the social media. Many children are addicted to it and can’t live without their gadgets. Through easy access to social media and its influences, these children are also exposed to drugs, alcohol, pornography, promiscuity and other illegal and immoral activities easily. Many adults too are vulnerable to these. Who introduced gadgets and social media to the children? Their parents, the adults. Slavery is passed down from one generation to another. It all began with ...
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Homily: December 3, 2024, Tuesday of the first week in Advent (Blessed)

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 "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it." Compared to my grandparents, I feel incredibly blessed to have seen, used and experienced things and events that they could never even have imagined it - mobile phones, the internet, zoom calls, online Mass, immediate transfer of money and so many other amazing functions made possible by advanced technology. However, there is one blessing my grandfather had, which I sometimes wish I could have (This wish was before discerning my vocation to priesthood) – that he married my grandmother, a beautiful and capable woman, when he was 16 and she was only 15 years old. Together they had ten children in their 70+ years of marriage! Thanks be to God. Indeed, compared to previous generations, we are blessed in so many ways. This is also true with regards our faith. We now have a better understanding of G...
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